It's the final day of the regular season, but it's been a long road for the Dodgers, and preparations started all the way back in November. And a man that never has a day off, a man that is vital to the energy of the Dodger dugout and the preparation of every single Dodger player, is Dodgers strength and conditioning coach Travis Smith. Travis, thanks a lot for the time and congratulations on getting through another regular season.
Dave, thank you. We appreciate it.
It's been a great season so far, so I'm excited for the playoffs.
Let's go.
You're very much in demand with the Japanese media. What's the attention been like for a guy that likes to stay in the background.
It's been all right.
It's been cool just being able to ask the questions about, you know, the work that show he puts in.
It's been a blessing. It's been good to be a part of it.
The first images we saw of showy Otani and Dodger Blue was the day after he signed with the Dodgers, and you were right there helping him already die been to preparation for this season. What's it been like to work so closely with a player of his caliber and his dedication.
To the game. It's been amazing.
Actually since day one, you know, you talk about those photos.
Since day one, he's.
Asked a lot of questions, he put a lot of work in. He wants to be the best, and so it's really cool.
To see Travis. Everybody is curious to know whether or not he already had it in his mind that he wanted to steal a certain number of bases. Did he ever express that to you?
He didn't say how many bases he wanted to steal, but absolutely he wanted to steal bases.
That was his whole goal this year. He said, if I'm not going to pitch, I want to be able to steal more bases.
And so he got with myself, He got with Clayton McCullough in spring training and worked on some things. They talked about his jumps, how poor they were in the past, and how he wanted to get him better. And so that's what our goal was with all of the training and things that we did. We wanted to work on his acceleration, improve his acceleration so that he can try to steal more bags.
All the other things. I think it's on him. I mean, his.
Dedication watching failm looking at the pictures and seeing what he can do, and just overall talent.
This guy's amazing.
And I think that he had it in his mind that he wanted to steal those bases. When he did steal a certain amount of bases, when he stole forty forty, he came in jokingly said to me, now, how about fifty to fifty?
Wow?
Yeah, so he maybe had an appetite for more after he got to thirty and then to forty.
Absolutely, absolutely, and you can tell that he's thinking about it. At once, he knew he can achieve a certain amount once he got passed what he did last year, he knew that he can get to thirty.
Once he got to thirty, he knew he can get to forty and so.
Okay, So once he got to fifty, Ichiro Suzuki's record for the most stolen basis by a Japanese born player was broken by Otani. Do you believe he wanted that distinction and to have one more than Eachie wrote?
You know what, Honestly, I don't know. I think he just wants to be the best. He knew that that was the case. I think he wants to steal sixty bags. You know, he wants to continue to get as much as he can. So I don't know about him wanting to be as significant or touch what each little did, but I know he wants to steal more bad.
Travis Smith is our guest. He's the Dodgers strengthened conditioning coach. When you look at the work you put in with an athlete like Otani, we're talking about, you know, Kobe Bryant type level of popularity, dedication. What does it mean to you that a player of his caliber reciprocates by putting in the work that you guys set out to do.
Yeah, honestly, it's it's been cool.
But the thing is we've been on his team with some great players, and so it is definitely a blessing and great opportunity to be able to work.
With him, and it feels good.
But I want to treat all of our players, saying, and so being able to have a relationship with him and every other player, this is what I work for, you know, I want to be able to get the best out of all of our athletes.
And so, yeah, it's been It's been amazing.
But when you get the buy in by a player, I'm sure, like any part of life, the more you put in, the more you get back. When you get that from him, I'm sure that makes you want to put more in.
All hands down, I mean right away, knowing what I was going to get out of him asking questions on a first day, first me explaining what it is that we do as a staff, our training staff, our strength, condition to staff, what we can provide for him, and he was.
All in that day. Man. That lit me up.
I was excited and I was looking forward to seeing what we can do this year.
How much do you believe being in this Dodger environment has helped him thrive to do things that he has never done in his career.
I think I think it definitely helps. Being able to win.
Winning is contagious, you know, people talk about it, but being able to win and being on the stage, I think it's amazing, and him seeing.
The other guys that he can push and that pushes.
Him, you know, being between you know, at the beginning, being between Mookie and Freddie, I knew that pushed him.
And so just being able to see the.
Caliber of players that we have on our team and challenging him every day and seeing like what he can do, and our players like, man, this guy's great.
You know.
I think it pushes him just like it pushes our players that he's on our team.
All right, before we go with Travis Smith, the Dodger's strength and conditioning coach and hype man for the Dodgers, right before first pitch, can you let us in on what the hype roll call is for show? Hey, Otani, I.
Think I did this.
You did Mookie?
Oh I did Moogie? Okay, okay, so show Hey the hype for show? Hey, I'm just gonna say it. And so, ladies and jumping in attendance and baseball fans around the world. LI from coursefield it showtime perfect.
I think that's the best way to end this. Travis Smith one of the great guys along with Dodger trainer Possum Knakajima on this staff. I love these guys and they put in tireless hours that you never see for the Dodgers to be prepared to take the field every single night. Thanks a lot for the time, and congratulations to you and the great Possum Nakajima. Long Beach state legend on the Dodger staff. Thanks Travis, Thank you appreciated that