The right quiet.
Dodgers Playoff Baseball is back and with it an annual postseason tradition scam is back.
Baby.
This is Sax and Cakes in the a app BA Go with Proway. Dodger legend Steve Sacks is joined by your favorite Dodger pregame host, Tim Kates. If you want to talk Dodgers, get in on the show on eighty six six nine, eighty seven two five seven now. While the Dan Patrick Show streams on the Ihearts radio app. We've been banished to the Internet until this Dodgers playoff run concludes. Here they are broadcasting live on AM five to seven e LA Sports. It's Tim Kates and Steve Sacks.
Sax and Kates and AM on this Monday morning, October fourteen. Good morning, so the California and the interviewing with us limean local, as we lead you up to Game two of the National League Championship Series. Dodgers already a one to nothing lead in his best to seven series. A quick turnaround after Game five win over the Padres on Friday night, they take Game one last night, a nine to nothing shutout win over the New York Mets. As
Jack Flerity wins seven shutout innings for the win. The Dodgers and Mets will go back at it today Sean and I the left hander, we'll go for New York Johnny Holstaff for the Dodgers. It will be a bullpen game. Ryan Brazier most likely will be the starter for the Dodgers in what is a bullpen game. In Game two, Walker Bueler will be pushed back to Game three for the series starts in New York on Wednesday, eight six, sixth nine eighty seven, two five seventy. We already heard
from Dave Roberts. We heard from Jack Flerity last hour. David Vasse, we'll join us in the eight o'clock hour. We're gonna get a nineteen eighty eight n LCS flashback coming up in about twenty five minutes with Steve Sacks. But Saxy, there are two unsung heroes, I guess you'll call him from one on the NLCS and a guy who has really performed well here in the postseason defensively is Will Smith and the Dodger catcher. A big reason why if you hear from the bullpen relievers from the
starters in Ya Momoto and last night Jack Flaherty. They're all given credit to Will Smith and the job he's doing calling games, making sure that he's framing the pitches. They're not afraid to throw balls in the dirt because he knows he's pretty good defensively behind the plate. Offensively, he hasn't done a lot, but man, defensively, Will Smith has really been a big part like Mike Soshia was in nineteen eighty eight. For you guys, Will Smith's been a huge for this Dodgers team.
Yeah, I have, you know, watching the game, I take notes and put different things down. One of the things I put down is be sure to mention how many sliders in the dirt that Will Smith blocked. I mean, we take it for granted so much that you give the confidence to the pitcher in this case Flaherty, to go ahead and bury that slider in the dirt and
get these guys to chase it. He did it time after time, and lots of times it didn't work, but he was still burying that slider in the in the dirt, and that's a much better and safer place to put it then put it like up in the strike zone
and hanging there like a cement mixer. You got to bury that thing, get that guy to go for it, and there you have your catcher, Will Smith, you know, blocking that thing, putting his keeping his chest square to the infield and just having a little tilt over the top of the ball, so what just bounces right in front of him. And he did it time after time after time. And that's a great, great advantage for the picture like Flaherty that likes to use that for a strikeout pitch.
Yeah, I give a tip of the cap going back to Game five as well, working with Yamamoto, and Yamamoto wasn't afraid to throw the knuckle curve that he throws out there and his slider to Will Smith in that Game five. Will struggling at the plate over three last night, got on base v a walk, but he's hitting into this one to oh five and hit the home run against the Padres down in San Diego for his biggest
hit so far in this twenty twenty four postseason. But again the Dodgers thirty three consecutive scoreless innings going back to Walker Bueleer in Game three of the n l DS and Will Smith a big reason part of that the Dodgers have had that success here in the postseason. Let's go back to last night post game in here for the Dodger catcher.
Yeah, that was that was awesome by Flair. Give a seven shout out, you know, set the tone. Uh we needed that. He really stepped up and uh, you know, give us a really good start. One of the things Doc mentioned was pitch mix in terms of mixing it up.
What were you thinking back there into how you were approaching each guy and Jack's ability to just keep everybody off balance.
Yeah, exactly that, you know, uh, you know, just sticking to strengths for Jack obviously, you know, knowing how to attack their hitters. They're a good team. But you know, we just executed pitches, just mixed you know, you're trying not to be predictable. Uh yeah, he just go one pitch at a time and he did a great job executing. So, uh, you know, it was fun for me to be back there see him work and uh, you know be a
part of that. When Jack's pitching like that, does it kind of just give you the freedom to kind of call call a little different game like whatever you're feeling at the time, because he's ex get his pitches so well, Uh guess and no, you know you're going one pitch at a time. You know, you're trying to, you know, find that fine line of you know, getting too cute or trying to do too much. So just keeping it simple, just going out there, nextecuting each pitch. Uh, that's what he did.
Since Claret he's been here. You know, Dave Robers has talked a lot about how the moment ever quite gets big, too big for him, just kind of wondering before the starts it starts, like what kind of air does he kind of give off.
Yeah, he's got a he's got an aura about him. You know, he's super competitive, super focused. You know, I see all his preparation he does for a couple of days before it start. You know, it's it's intense. He's got an intense seek about him. So, you know, he's had a great year. He's obviously had great years in the past. And you know, we're fortunately he's pitching for us in the postseason and you know, giving us seven sheddies.
Will you're out there to win the game. You're not thinking about records, but it's thirty three scoreless innings on all time record. What what is your reflection on being part of that and you know, sort of the bigger picture in the history of this game.
Yeah, that's cool. You know, it's been it's been a good street, I guess for our guys, you know, they're just kind of out there and dominated, and yeah, I'm back there calling the pitches. But it's it's all those guys, you know, executing, you know what we're deciding. So just trying to keep it going tomorrow, all.
Right, there's wilsonith thirty three consecutive scoreless innings for this Dodgers pitching staff Sactually, I don't think people understand how big a number that is for a postseason pitching staff. It's not just starters. This is twelve different pitchers that have combined for thirty three consecutive scoreless innings.
Yeah. And the great thing about this is you're going against the elite of the league. You're going against the best of the best, and yet here they are thirty three scoreless. And if you look at the breadth of these innings and the way they're knocking these things down, Remember, these aren't like bases loaded and a bunch of lineouts to somebody who spears one and oh then they got lucky or Baul Ricochet's off the umpire like it did with the Padres and goes right to Manny and throws
the guy out at home. I mean, it wasn't anything like that. These are these are not really hotly contested innings. There's been a couple times with runners on, but for the most part it's the Dodgers getting that first out and then closing it out. I mean, it's it's not been big stressful innings for them.
Will Smith was great last night. He's having a good postseason defensively. And another guy we got to mention is keyk a hern Nandez. Certainly, the big home run in Game five in the NLDS on Friday night set the tone for the Dodgers in that two to nothing win last night, there was a play in the fifth inning, Saxon and I'm dying to get your your take on this. Dodgers rubbed six to nothing. Jack Fleriti's pitching in the fifth.
He allows a single to Jesse Winker. Then second basement Jose Gleasias comes up to bat and he hits a ball to left center field for a base hit. And Jesse Winker is going first to third on the hit. Keiki Hernandez races over into love center field, grabs the baseball, looks like he's throwing to third with his body the way it was, it was leaning and almost like a
Patrick Mahomes style play, looking one way, throwing another. He throws the second base and Gavin lucks and for some reason, Jesse Winker puts on the brakes, stops going to third and just stops in the middle between second and third base ends up getting tagged out by Max Munsey. And it was pivotal because the Mets could have got something going. It was a six to nine game, but it was squashed.
And then Jack Flaherty gets the next two batters out and gets out of that fifth inning with another zero up on the scoreboard. Is that a great play by Keiki Ahernanez. Is that a deep play that you've ever seen before?
Yeah, that is a great play. You could say it was classic buffoonery as far as Winker does. Winker goes on the base, but no, hey, he was deep big time by Kik and the thing that it was astonishing to me, Okay, you get caught there. He throws the ball in the second, he takes off the third then he stops and turns around and waits for Gavin to throw the ball. I don't get it. It's like it's like, you know, in a football game. You know, it's it's fourth and one, and they throw a little out pattern.
You catch the ball right on the line, and then you just you just push forward, right, you just dive forward for the first down. It looked like that all he had to do was dive forward, dive into third base, and he probably had it. Oh yeah, he turned around and waited for Gavin to throw the ball. I don't get it, but hey, you know what it's it's all started by a great play, heads up play by Kik and centerfield that set the whole tone.
Yeah, he would have been safe at third. It would have been first and third with nobody out.
Yeah, you don't make the first or third out of third base, that's what. Yeah, that was bad. I don't know why he stopped. I mean, why he stopped. I don't get it. I don't think he knew right where he was in the baseline. If he thought, you know that Gavin had more time he was down the line further. I think than he believed. But you know, Gavin makes
the good throw to third and he's out. But what's really difficult to this whole thing that we don't really give a lot of credit to, at least I haven't as much, is how difficult of a throw that is for Kik. He's bearing down on third base, he's aim at third. He picks it up, and all of a sudden he does a switcher roof and throws to second in mid form as he was going to third. He just switches hard. That's really hard to do, and he
made a great throw to second. So I don't know how he does it, but that's why the Dodgers win these games.
Yeah, he was throwing a second so they can keep the double playball intact. And if he throws the third, who knows, maybe Iglesias takes off for second and then there's nobody out second and third, and who knows what happens. Instead, you know, he throw it to second, as you're supposed to keep the double playing ball, and maybe the runner
from third scores eventually, but you've got a double play situation. Instead, Winker just stops and Gavin Luxe was almost cop off caught off guard because he looked and double pumped and said, okay, fine, I'm gonna throw you out, throws the Munsi and tags him out.
Now, if Kik does just the normal thing, he just gets the ball and throws the second, like you said, you keep the double a play in order. But he deaked him like he was gonna cut him off at third for at first. That's why Winkers, you know, you know, stopped because he thought, oh man, maybe I'm gonna be out at third. But you know, then he turns around and throws behind him at second. That was just a great play. It fooled me watching it on TV. Yeah,
foold watching it. You know, from that perspective, it's.
It's interesting to see this Mets team last night, and I know it's not the way they've been playing this postseason, and certainly they they played really well against the Phillies. They went toe to toe with the Milwaukee Brewers and won that wild card round in Milwaukee. And that's not hard to They're not easy to do. The last two weeks of the season. They were basically on the road fighting for their playoff lives. They've battled to get to this NLC. Yeah, and you see last night, the amount
of chasing they did at the plate. Coodei Singa just did not look good at all, and he only made two starts all year because of a shoulder injury than a calf injury. But for some reason, they want to throw them out there in Game one of the NLCS, even though they had three days off to line up this rotation. The base running theres they had two airs. Defensively, it was a circus out there last night for the Mets. I honestly looked at my wife, I said, I don't
know how this Mets team got here. They look awful.
Well, they part of make them looking awful, is the Dodgers look so good. Remember that there's a lot of pressure put on to the opposition just because they're playing the Dodgers. They know that they have to be spotless. They know that they have to come up with big hits, they have to make big pitches. Anyone in that lineup can change the whole complexity of this game with the Dodgers, and they know that, and that's the pressure that's put on them when they walk on the field with these guys.
But look, it's not gonna be that way all the time. There's Dodgers aren't going to be brilliant all the time, and so you just got to take it, like they say, the cliche of one game at a time, one pitch at a time. And that's how you stay humble and stay within yourself and let the chips fall where they may. That way, don't look too far ahead. And part of that is enjoying the moment, enjoy the great things where the Dodgers are and how they're producing right now. That's
an important thing. And Dave Man, Dave Roberts brings that out well on the team.
I love the New York media, the New York Post, the headline Hollywood horror show out classt in Game one, Mets can't afford to be this ordinary.
Yeah, well, you know what, it's it's great thing that the Dodgers are a very humble team and you just stay right there. You don't you don't you know, you don't flaunt, you don't you know, put down the other team. You respect them because they deserve respect. And you know, you go at it very business like and you put put the pressure on these guys from the day from pitch one. That's how you get this thing done.
Speaking of pressure, Francisco Lindor last night, who is right there in the running for the MVP. It is so good at shortstop zero for three on base once with the walk struck out once last night and one of the other articles in the New York Post today, Francisco Lindor has chance to quickly change everything for Mets. Talk
about pressure. Look at the Dodgers. They got like six guys you can rely upon on any given night, and if the combination of two or three are on, lookout, you're gonna win a game like they did last night night and nothing. I look at that Mets lineup outside of the home run threat from the Polar Bear. Yeah, this is Francisco Lindor or bust with that lineup.
Yeah, I mean, but they got guys who can put the ball in play and put some see their different attack is different. They can string it together. Guys like McNeil, who you know, a really good hitter. You get to the Polar Bear in the four slot, I mean, he can change it right there. And like you said, Lindor is the biggest, the biggest shiny object on this team. But they do have good athlete on the team and
the pitching has been pretty good. So when you put all that together, I mean, they're in a good spot. Are they as good as you know, getting through round one then beating the Phillies. I don't know if they're that great, but remember this team barely got in but actually from about May on they were right there in lockstep with the Dodgers. So after a you know, kind of a poor start, they were a really good ball club.
He is Steve Sacks. I am Tim Kats. Your phone calls coming up. David Masse joins this next hour. We'll hear from Freddie Freeman coming up later on this hour as well. But up next, we go back to nineteen eighty eight Dodgers met National League Championship Series. Nobody gave the Dodgers a chance. The big bad New York Mets best record in baseball, they beat up on the Dodgers in the regular season, and they were expected to do so again. Everybody was waiting for a Mets a's World
Series matchup, and the Dodgers played spoilers. We're gonna get a SAX memory from the NLCS from nineteen eighty eight. Next, don't go anywhere. He is Steve Sacks. I'm Tim Kates. Dodgers a one nothing series lead in the National League Championship Series Game two this afternoon one oh eight, First pitch right here on your home of Showy O Toanni and the Dodgers AFI seventy Eli Sports, Sax and Kate to the am on this Monday morning in October fourteenth.
Thanks for being with us live and local in the morning. As the Dodgers playoff run continues a Game five win over the Padres on Friday night, they advance to the NLCS, and they win Game one last night in convincing fashion, a nine to nothing victory over the New York Mets. Jack Flaherty seven shutout innings for the Dodgers. Showy O Tani goes two for four, Mookie Betts drives in three.
Freddy Friedman with an RBI sing Max Months. He got the party started with a two out, two run single in the first as the Dodgers jumped on code Is single last night, chased him in the second inning with one out as the Dodgers take a one to oh series lead in Game two. Quick turnaround this afternoon, coming up at one oh eight. The Dodgers going with the bullpen game. Sean and Iya, the veteran left hander, will
be on the mound for the New York Mets. Let's take a couple of phone calls before we get to your moment, Saxy. I know all of us in the studio are anxiously awaiting it. I got a tweet from somebody that said, cannot wait to hear Saxy's nineteen eighty eight and LCS memory. Wow, We're gonna get to that in a minute.
I better come up with something.
Oh, noz, Let's go to Diana and Granada Hills, who's been waiting very patiently. Diana, good morning, how are you?
Good morning? Hi, Tim and Steve, how are you guys doing?
Hello, good morning, good morning.
So I know, just like you guys are saying, it's only been one game, but yesterday for me was the most complete, satisfying post season game I cremember in years with the small ball, the great starting pitching, where he was allowed to pitch seven innings, which is tremendous. It just was amazing for me not to have my stomach in knots from the first inning on through the game. It was just a beautiful thing, and I think we can keep it going today.
Let's go all right, Diana, appreciate the phone call, Thanks for checking in, y out. I think the knots has certainly left my stomach. From Game five of the NLDS on Friday night and going into Sunday night's matchup last night against the Mets Saxy, I had a better feeling. Not that it was a letdown emotionally for me after the Padre series, but I just looked at the competition and I kind of looked at the pitching matchups going in.
I got a little easier feeling against this match team now, not that it's going to be a cakewalk by any means. And I know some Dodger fans are saying sweep and bring on the Yankees. Let's pump the brakes a little.
Bit, pump them a little bit. And you don't ever want to play to the competition. So look, you had a nine zero blowout, Okay, nothing wrong with the twelve one blowout either, or you know, eleven zero blowout for the next game. I don't believe in oh, you got to save those runs for the next one. No, no, no, no, you you Each game is individual and unique in and of itself. So if you haven't an opportunity to blow them out again, blow them out again. That's that's the way you got to look at it.
Oscar in Baldwin Park is next up here on Saxon Kates in the Am on this Monday morning, leading into Game two. Oscar, you doing good, good, Mitch Jax Morney, Homie Kates.
Morning, beautiful morning, beautiful, beautiful overcast in southern California. Man, and Dodgers will up get one game and on this series. Man, I don't know much to say other than this is I think that I talked to as that say last man the postcamp. Some of the other teams had better talent and stuff and uh many a better players. But I think this is the best team they've had. You know. They they look good. They they just look good.
Man.
I don't much to say other than that, and other than hey.
I'm thinking ahead.
I want the Yankee thankey one in my life name. I want to see a Dodger Yankees world series. That's what I want to see. Well, go have a good morning, man, Thank you.
Thank you a lot of Oscar. That the Yankees got to get there first. They're gonna have their hands full in the ALCS that starts later on today in New York with the Guardians.
Yes, who Cleveland?
Yeah, that baseball team.
Hey, you know, Tim, Sometimes you know, I don't always agree wholeheartedly with the listener, and in this case, love Oscar, but gotta kind of tilt it a little bit the other way because I think this is the most talented Dodger team I've seen. Number one, uh and number two. There's nothing wrong with having that talent and playing as a team. It doesn't mean you have to have one without the other. You can have an extremely talented team and still play that way as a unit. That that's
called World Series winners. That's what they do.
Speaking of World Series winners, you are a World Series winner. That nineteen eighty eight Dodge World Series Championship team was a team that was good, but by no stretch probably as talented as this year's Dodgers team. The expectations certainly weren't as high as this year's Dodgers team. But you guys did that by overcoming during the regular season. In the postseason, you guys delivered as well. And then in the NLCS a matchup against the Big bad New York
Mets with Ron Darling. Davy Johnson's team was the one of the best in baseball that year. They basically beat you guys to the pulp in the regular season. I think it was ten out of eleven and they beat you guys something like that. And going into this series, it was all Mets. Everybody said, Wow, the Mets are gonna win this easily. Dodgers run is coming to an end. You guys are going to win those World Series. But this NLCS matchup just like nineteen eighty eight, la versus
New York. Take his back sack seat to nineteen eighty eight.
Okay, back in nineteen eighty eight, you know, our team was scheduled to, you know, finished fourth in our division. That's where our team was, and as we all know, so many different things happened starting in spring training. Now I'm going to go each spring training game first and then we'll finish this thing about nine o'clock tonight. Okay, No, so in general, pick to be fourth in our division. We had the dust up with Kirk Gibson in spring
training which kind of set the tone. Now, faust forward to the playoffs. Here we are. I mean, you can't believe it. Matt's talented team, super super talented team, great pitching, they got everything. But we had the team, and that's what the difference was. We had unit T. We had a mantra that went throughout the season of what a blanket team. Can't say it, but we screamed it every
time we won. And we turned Kirk Gibson into a guy that was gruff and wanted to fight everybody into a little cuddly chubby bear that was laughing and drooping around with us towards the end of the year. And it was done in the right manner, of course. Now I want to put something in perspective. Remember the Dodgers right now, thirty three scoreless scene. Isn't it amazing to watch what this team does collectively To go out there and have all these guys pitch in and do thirty
three scoreless senings. It is amazing, isn't it, Tim? It is. Now I want you to think about Oral Herscheizer, what he did that year fifty nine and two thirds by himself fifty nine and two thirds. It was something that will maybe never see again. But again, our team was very entrepreneurial. We were not afraid to fail. That's what was good about our club. Remember there was times when we would do things on our own without even asking.
Tommy Lesorda. I remember if I was on first base and Kenny Landro was up, we would make eye contact from ninety feet away. I was on first looking at him, and he would I would look and kind of turn my head a little bit. That meant hit and run. So Kenny and I would do that on our own, and we were entrepreneurial about it. We weren't afraid to fail, and lots of times it did work out. It did work out. Were there were times when we were in a situation there was a guy in first base and
nobody out, ball won. You know, the hitter would step out, look down at third base at Joey Mofatano, and you know Mikes Soshia. I remember about five people down from Tommy. He said, Tommy, you're gonna hit run right, hit run on this pitch. Tommy leans over and gives Joey the hit and run and it works. I mean, it was crazy how that stuff went. Now that leads into my to the point of my story. In that game we're playing the Mets, I'm talking about Game four, very pivotal game.
It went twelve innings. It was a knockdown, drag out event. Uhu. Dwight Gooden had gone nine innings, and tell what happened in the ninth inning. Mike Soosha hit a monstrous home run off of Dwight Gooden that turned things around, that sent us into extra innings. And then what happens. Kirk Gibson not only launches that big home run against the A's in Game one, he hit a huge home run in the twelfth inning off of Jack off of McDowell that that were enabled us to go into the bottom
of the twelfth. And then here's my point. What happens in the bottom of the twelfth, Well, I mean two outs and I'm sitting there on second base and I look down there in the bullpen and who is it? Here comes Oral running in from the bullpen to notch the save. And you gotta be kidding me. As soon as that gate opened up and he was running out, I heard this, the heavens open up, and I was like, no, you know, here he comes, and he's gonna lock this
thing down. The funny thing about it, here's my point. The funny thing about it was, Remember I told you how entrepreneurial the team was. He tried to do things and whatnot. Orl Herscheizer went down to the bullpen on his own. Tommy didn't even know he was going down there. Wow. Orl goes down there and tells Mark Kressey, Hey, I'm here with two outs in the twelfth, i can knock this thing down for us. He didn't even tell Tommy.
He just went down there and did it. And Kressy didn't even know it, but there he was in the game. I mean, just an unbelievable teamwork, not afraid to quit, not afraid to fail. That's how we won that game. It was a lot of duct tape and a lot of heart, and that's why we won that game, which set us off to win in the finale in Los Angeles. In game seven, that is awesome.
Oral comes in. It's Kevin McReynolds for the final bat there in the bottom half of the twelfth and he replacing Jesse A Rosco I believe at the time, was on the mound and it had walked a runner on the bases loaded and then that's when Tommy Losorda went out to the mount and got him and brought in Oral herscheizer. Things could have gone drastically different. And Jesse Roscoe stays in that game and gives up a base hit and a couple of runs score, and you guys
lose that game. Going into Game five with that quick turnaround.
It was Leary and then a Rosco who I believe walked walks somebody, and then Oral comes in and shuts that thing down. I'm telling you, our team was on fire in that locker room, absolutely on fire when that happened. It just it just brought you know, it brought jet packs into our cleats. It was It was just unbelievable. That thing was just for Oral to come out and do that. It gave the team such an emotional lift. And then we come back and shut that thing down
in Los Angeles. And I'll tell you what, you know, give due to the Mets. I mean to the Oakland A's in the World Series. They weren't nothing like the Mets. Mets were just like the toughest team that we faced all year. Ten out of eleven times we faced them. Yeah, they whooped us ten. Yep, that's how good they were.
Oral Hersheiser had pitched seven day Scuse me seven innings the previous day in Game three, comes back out in Game four to close it out for the final batter there. Truly unbelievable because there was nobody left down there for you guys in the bullpen. But when when he comes out of the gate and he comes running in, are you standing there by yourself?
I can't believe what I'm saying.
Do you do you gather with the other interfielder's like, what are we doing?
Yeah?
Well do you have confidence that Oral, just a day before, who through seven innings, could come in and get the out with the bases loaded?
Yeah? I thought he could. Remember Pania had pitched three innings of just just knockdown Penia was great. He actually got to win that day. And then it was Leary for an out, a Rosco for an out. Guys were on base, and Oral comes in and shuts it down for the third out. I mean the big home run that Mike Soshia hit to put us in extras. Gibby hits the big home run in the twelfth inning, and it was just magic man. It It was just a magic thing for us. But world comes through that gate
was like Superman. It was unbelievable.
What was it like going back to the hotel room that night, knowing that you had to get up. You had a game that started, not warm up, started in like ten and a half hours.
You know it. It was almost like we felt a different thing happening with us, or a team evolved throughout the course of the year. We got really hot towards the middle of year and it never stopped, and we felt that we were on this trek to do something amazing and Oral, you know the underpinnings of this whole thing where Oral was fifty nine and two thirds. He was showing us all the time when he went out there to pitch, this is something different for us, and
it was, and it rubbed off on everybody else. I mean, players can make other players great. You can make a good player great, and that's what guys like Orl did for us. He made us so much better, Gibbie did, and we just kept getting better as the season went on. But when he came through those gates in the twelfth inning, whoa, It's like Moses coming through there.
Tim Belcher was back at the team hotel because he was your Game five starter, I believe. The next day at Shae Stadium, anybody were asking me if he felt like he was gonna hop in a cab and maybe head back out to Shaye Stadium because you had nobody else in the pullpit. And if that game for some reason went, you know, at more extra innings, what was Tommy's playing?
What was gonna happen? You know what? I don't really know, I mean, but all I know is the dude goes down into into the bullpen on his own, tells Paranowsky, I'm ready, didn't even tell Tommy, just right down there and then there it happened.
The closest thing I can think of to something like that, and this is not even really close. But Clayton Kershaw in it was a couple of nlds is a go twenty nineteen, I believe, or not even before that, when he pitched against the Washington Nationals Game five in the NLDS in Washington, d C. And comes out and closes out the game in the ninth inning after just two days ago pitching for the Dodgers is the closest thing
I can think too. Yeah, in Dodger postseason history of a great starting pitcher coming out and closing out a game for a team and it must win decisive game or a postseason game like Oral did in Game four of the NLCS. Well, hopefully this series isn't as exciting as the nineteen eighty eight NLCS because the Dodgers are in control of this series. You guys certainly battled with the New York Mets in that NLCS series. Go into it, though you guys had was there ever a doubt that
you guys could win this series? I mean, because they dominates you guys a ten out of eleven.
Sure, there's regular Sure there's doubts. And you know, same thing when people ask players do you do? You guys get nervous and you go up to bet absolutely every time. I mean even in spring training, you get you know, you you you have to fight through the jitters and you have to calm yourself down. That's part of being a professional. But yeah, there's doubts. I mean, that's that's part of playing the game. And you've got to silence those things and you got to change it into something
positive immediately. Uh. If you don't have a little bit of those jitters or doubts whatever, you must not care very much. And if you say, man, I was just going out there. I had no doubts, no jitters at all. Something's bad is really about to happen. I'm telling you, because it's not normal to do that. You got to
just go through those times. You got to calm it down, and you got to get really into the soul and say, look, I know what my beliefs are, and I know what the bottom line is here and and and that's how you have to go at it. That's got to supersede anything else.
You guys did it in nineteen eighty eight, Oral hersiz Are coming in in game four of that extra inning game twelve innings, Dodgers out last of the New York Mets five to four, and he comes out and gets the final out in that bottom half of the twelfth INNY. And that's going down memory lane with Steve Sacks.
Four hours and twenty nine minutes, that Gay Moss a long way into the night, and.
You turned around and played a game the next day in that dump of a stadium there, Shay Stadium in New York and Queens awful awfull. I mean the rats never slept there, you know, they were up all the time. Imagine being there for four and a half hour game. It's the middle of the night. You guys have to get out of there, and that place is disgusting.
Yes, yes, I just looked too. And guess who the leftfield umpire was, Uh, the West?
Oh, Joe West, the cowboy, Joe West.
Cowboy Joe West. That's right.
Did you have a good relationship with the cowboy?
I did? I did. I had a fine relationship. I did. I listen. I made it a point to get along with the umpires. Not that I wanted to kiss anybody's you know what, but I just would play middle of the road. And those are guys you don't want to get a bad name with because they can kind of turn things bad on you. You know, Will to kind of keep that even.
Will Clark, the former Great Giant and Texas ranger, tells a great story about one night he got wrung up on a strike three from the homeplate umpire and he didn't think it was a strike. He looked back at him and was like, you know, shook his head, but
he still got wrung up on a strike three. And later on a couple hours later, back at the team hotel, the umpire was there down in the hotel bar and Will Clark sent a beer over to him or an adult beverage, and the guy turned around and we'll just kind of like, you know, tipped his hand like hey, you know, cheers everything to him and did it just to be mean. He just did it. It was like, hey, you know, we're not playing baseball anymore. Can you have a great night?
Yeah.
Ever since then he said that Home played umpire, He always got the call from that Home played umpire because he didn't rub it in his face. No, he didn't try to show him up. He didn't try to be the guy and call him out in the media after the game or anything, or go after the hotel bar. He just said, hey, what happened. Happened?
Yeah, classic move. And you know what, the umpire knows he missed it. The umpire knows he missed it. He does. And for will to do something like that, it's classy move. It was Angel Hernandez, That's who it was. He did it too, He did, yes, Angel exactly. It was Angel Hernandez, who uh oh wow, Okay, not.
One of the most lights umpires in the history of baseball. He is Steve Zachs, some Tim Kates and sax and Kates and the AM on this Monday morning. Dodgers a one nothing series lead in the NLCS. Game two this afternoon Brono Casino. Dodgers on Deck begins at noon first pitch at one oh eight. David I say, our Dodger
insider joins us. Next hour still to come. Well, you're gonna hear from Freddie Freeman, and we're gonna go back and Dodger history because the Dodgers are closing in on a historic mark, scoreless innings pitched by this Dodger rotation. We'll get into that when we come back and saxon Kate's and the AM right here on AM FI seventy l A Sports Sax and Kate to the AM on this Monday morning, Thanks for being with us live at local as we lead chop to Game two of the
National Ague Championship Series. Dodgers up one game to nothing after a nine nothing shutout win over the New York Mets last night and the series opener. The Dodgers banged down nine runs on nine hits, no home runs, just one extra base hit that was a double for Mookie Beds and that was it. They just single them to death, got on base small ball to the bottom of the lineup. Jack Felerti seven shutout innings, Daniel Hudson to scoreless eighth.
Ben Caspirius pitched a scoreless ninth inning. So the Dodgers bullpen intact, high leverage guys ready to go for Game two and what is going to be a Johnny Holstaff game. We expect Ryan Brasier most likely to be the opener for the Dodgers in this game too. Later on this afternoon, he is Steve Sacks. I'm Tim Kate's hearing with you until nine o'clock this morning. David vesa our Dodger insider, joins us next hour. Steve's keys to a Game two NLCS win coming up at the end the next hour
as well. The Dodgers right now thirty three consecutive scoreless innings, and it's been pretty impressive of the way they've done it. After the big inning that the Padres had in Game three against Walker Bueller, he comes back up and puts up Zeros, and the Dodgers bullpen puts up Zeros the rest of the way in Game three, even though it
was a loss. Game four, the bullpen game in San Diego, Dodgers win, and it was a scoreless performance from the bullpen Friday Night Game five and the NLDS against the Padres. Yoshiyamamoto and the Dodgers bullpen combined for a two to nothing shutout win over the Padres last night Game one of the NLCS. The consecutive scoreless inning streak continues with zero after zero put up by Jack Flaherty, then the zero in the eighth from Daniel Hudson, zero from Benkspirius
in the ninth. We are now in thirty three consecutive scoreless Indians for this Dodgers team, relievers, starters. It is certainly a feat that we have not seen happen in a very long time. In fact, we have not seen this happen Saxy since nineteen sixty six. The Baltimore Orioles did it, albeit against the Dodgers in the nineteen sixty six World Series. Here's the finale, the final call of Game four, Vince Scully on the call, Baltimore Orioles defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers.
McNally is set and ruddy and the spike two pitch swan on a flyve on a right center It's playable. Paul Bair is waiting and waiting.
Here's got it.
They are going wild in Baltimore, understandably so as the birds of mob Dave McNally I hang and thousands of fans four out onto the field, and hell to the camps, says the ball. Oriols knock the clown off the Dodgers head, and they got the champions of the world for nineteen sexty.
Say the great Vin Scully on the call. Nineteen sixty six World Series. They win it in Game four. A suite for the Orioles. Dodgers scored a run in Game one in the second inning, and a run in the third inning, and after that thirty three consecutive scoreless innings pitched by four pitchers Dave McNally, Mo Drabowski, Jim Palmer, and Wally Buckner. The sixty six Orioles Saxy used four
pitchers in four games, thirty three consecutive scoreless innings. The Dodgers so far thirty three consecutive scoreless innings and counting going into today, they've used twelve pitchers.
Yeah, a different different world today, though, you know, with the the bullpens back then, the starters were expected to go the whole way and bullpen go. We're just guys that could make the team and mop up a little bit. It's different strategies today. These guys are These guys are parsed out to get this guy out, this guy out, and this guy out, and then the next pitcher you're
gonna go for these three or four guys. And especially with the fact that you have to pitch the three guys, you know you're you're gonna pick out certain guys that they think that you can get out. And that's the way it is. It's a different strategy today. But it's cool, it's great. And uh, you know the Dodgers are winning games without putting their best foot forward. Yet, how is that they're not even slugging yet? That's we know they're
gonna slug. Sometimes you get victories about great pitching in your starters and you have seven, eight to nine dominating the game. This is great stuff for the Dodgers right now. Ride this pony. Hey, I guarantee you if the Dodgers don't hit any home runs the rest of the way and they can win games in this fashion, everybody on that team would join in and say, yeah, we'll take that victory. Even though there's no show Hey or Mookie
or Freddie home runs. They can do it in this fashion and win the They would step up and take it to heartbeat.
Yeah, and this Dodgers team today gonna go with a bullpen game. And I hope Dodger fans realize, Saxy, the performance they put up in Game four, the way it played out to the script to a t, it may not go that way today. That was about as perfect as you can get. In Game four, eight different relievers coming out of the bullpen to put up zeros over nine innings. That was something special. It may not happen again. They may actually give up a run at some point in this game.
Today.
They may go off script and a walk here and a base hit here or maybe a home run there. And that could happen, but it won't be the end of the world, because I still got to believe that this Dodger bullpen is gonna be pretty dominant today.
Look what happened when they were playing the Padres when it was crunch time. When you looked in the dugout, no panic. There's no panic here. And so if that happens, you give up a run or two no panic. You stay within the course of the plan and you just execute. That's it.
By the way, looking inside that Mets dugout last night, a lot of eyes wide open.
Like my god, look at each other.
What in the world just hit us in the face. Nine runs from this Dodgers team and they didn't even hit a home run. Yikes? He is Steve Sacks II and Tim Kats two hours down, one to go. Your phone calls coming up next hour. David Vat say we'll join us Steve's keys to game two. So much more to get to as we lead you up to Game two of the NLCS right here on your home and showy Otani and the Dodgers am fhi seventy l I Sports