Bryan Cranston is such an enormous Dodgers fan that he received goosebumps in a Los Angeles studio six years in the past whereas narrating an MLB Community documentary on the workforce’s 1988 season, which culminated with one of the vital dramatic dwelling runs in World Sequence historical past, Kirk Gibson’s Recreation 1, pinch-hit, walk-off shot off Dennis Eckersley.
The 68-year-old actor of “Breaking Bad” and “Your Honor” fame was in Chavez Ravine in late-October for an additional beautiful World Sequence homer, Freddie Freeman’s Recreation 1, Tenth-inning walk-off grand slam that lifted the Dodgers to a 6-3 comeback victory over the New York Yankees and propelled them towards their eighth World Sequence title.
“That was the most exciting game I’ve ever been to,” mentioned Cranston, a lifelong fan who was 5 years previous when his father took him to his first Dodgers sport within the Coliseum in 1961. “Complete strangers were hugging each other.”
Cranston was again in a Los Angeles studio on Thursday, this time to conduct a SiriusXM City Corridor interview with Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts, however earlier than the four-time Emmy Award winner sat all the way down to grill the two-time World Sequence-winning skipper, he artfully dodged a troublesome query directed at him:
Will Freeman’s delirium-inducing drive in 2024 supplant Gibson’s lightning bolt in 1988 as probably the most dramatic postseason dwelling run in Dodgers historical past?
“Can’t they live side by side?” Cranston mentioned after an extended pause.
“Good answer,” Roberts mentioned, impressed with the actor’s diplomacy.
Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts, left, and actor Bryan Cranston.
(Los Angeles Dodgers)
Cranston and Roberts then spent an hour discussing a season that started with a $1.2-billion splurge on two-way star Shohei Ohtani and pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow and ended with the Dodgers erasing a 5-0 fifth-inning deficit in a World Sequence Recreation-5 clinching win over the Yankees.
The interview, which was held earlier than a small dwell viewers, will air on MLB Community Radio on Friday (1 p.m., 5 p.m., 8 p.m. PST) and once more on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Among the many highlights:
Roberts on the dizzying array of pitching accidents that pressured the Dodgers to make use of 17 completely different starters and 40 whole pitchers: “Our organization does such a good job of scouting, developing, trading for guys and having depth, but there were a lot of guys, to be honest, who were on our roster who I had never heard of. I know you guys here today better than I knew some of these players who pitched for me this year.”
Roberts on the uncommon workforce assembly he known as earlier than a Sept. 15 sport at Atlanta, the day after the Dodgers discovered Glasnow suffered a season-ending elbow harm and a 10-1 loss to the Braves decreased their division lead over San Diego to 3½ video games:
“The crux of the meeting was, ‘I believe in each one of you guys, but it doesn’t matter, if you guys don’t believe in each other, that we have enough talent in this room to win 11 games in October.”
Roberts on the dialog he had that very same afternoon with Walker Buehler, who took a 1-5 report and 5.95 ERA right into a Sept. 15 begin during which the right-hander, who returned from a second Tommy John surgical procedure, gave up one earned run and three hits in six innings of a 9-2, season-turning win over the Braves.
“Walker was scuffling, but I told him, ‘You’ve pitched some of the most meaningful games in Dodgers history and succeeded. We need you to step up tonight and go on a heater, because if we don’t have you, we’re not gonna win the World Series.’ It was a challenge to raise the bar for all of us, and he answered the bell.”
Dave Roberts walks within the dugout earlier than Recreation 5 of the World Sequence towards the New York Yankees on Oct. 30.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Occasions)
Roberts on a testy 10-2 Nationwide League Division Sequence Recreation 2 loss to the Padres, during which pitcher Jack Flaherty and San Diego slugger Manny Machado jawed at one another a number of occasions and Machado drew the ire of the Dodgers when he flung a ball towards Roberts within the third-base dugout between innings:
“They wanted a street fight — I think we needed to turn into street fighters and kind of play their game. We needed to do something to balance out the playing field, and I felt that it sort of flipped after that.”
“It certainly did,” Cranston mentioned. “The last two games [of the NLDS], your pitching staff allowed zero runs.”
Roberts on Freeman’s World Sequence grand slam: “That was the biggest moment for me that I’ve ever witnessed in person in sports. We celebrated after that hit like we had just won Game 7. I felt like we had won the World Series, and when you look back, that might have been when we won the World Series.”
Cranston then steered the interview towards 2025, asking Roberts how the Dodgers can enhance subsequent season.
“The biggest thing we’ve done so far is sign Blake Snell,” Roberts mentioned of the veteran left-hander who signed a five-year, $182-million deal in late-November. “We have Glasnow coming back, we’ve got Yoshinobu coming back …
“Sasaki,” Cranston interjected, referring to extremely coveted 23-year-old right-hander Roki Sasaki, who was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines in November and is predicted to signal with a significant league workforce in January. “Sasaki.”
“Right,” Roberts mentioned, “I can’t say anything about that.”
“Sasaki,” Cranston continued.
“Don’t get me in trouble, Bryan,” Roberts mentioned with fun.
The Dodgers are among the many groups making an attempt to signal Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki.
(Wilfredo Lee / Related Press)
Roberts thinks the Dodgers, who hope to re-sign free-agent slugger Teoscar Hernández and add one other influence reliever, “should be better” in 2025 than they have been in 2024,” however he acknowledged that “it’s hard to ultimately be better than winning a world championship.”
If the Dodgers are to turn out to be the primary workforce to repeat as champions for the reason that Yankees gained three straight titles from 1998-2000, they are going to want the right mindset and motivation, a topic Roberts mentioned this week with Dodgers partial proprietor Magic Johnson, the star level guard who led the Lakers to 5 NBA titles from 1980-88.
“I really feel that the carrot, the incentive for our club, in 2025, is now you’re getting into legacy territory,” Roberts mentioned. “I talked to Magic about legacy and [former Lakers coach] Pat Riley and what he instilled in those guys, the mindset. That’s something I’m going to try to [instill] in our guys because now we’re trying to do something that will last forever.”
