Brian Cranston is such a big Dodgers fan that he got goosebumps in a Los Angeles studio six years ago while narrating an MLB Network documentary about the team’s 1988 season, which culminated with one of the most dramatic home runs in World Series history, Kirk Gibson Game 1, pinch hit, dead end shot by Dennis Eckersley.
The 68-year-old actor from “Breaking Bad” and “Your Honor” fame was at Chavez Ravine in late October for another great World Series home run, Match 1 by Freddie Freeman, 10th round grand slam which lifted the Dodgers to a 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees and propelled them to their eighth World Series title.
“It was the most exciting game I’ve ever been to,” said Cranston, a longtime fan who was 5 when his father took him to his first Dodgers game at the Coliseum in 1961. “From complete strangers were kissing.
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Cranston was back in a Los Angeles studio Thursday, this time to conduct a SiriusXM Town Hall interview with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, but before the four-time Emmy Award winner sat down to grill double World Series winning skipperhe cleverly dodged a difficult question addressed to him:
Will Freeman’s delirium-inducing home run in 2024 supplant Gibson’s 1988 lightning bolt as the most dramatic postseason home run in Dodgers history?
“Can’t they live side by side? » said Cranston after a long pause.
“Good answer,” Roberts said, impressed by the actor’s diplomacy.
Cranston and Roberts then spent an hour discussing a season that began with a $1.2 billion splurge for the 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 Victory in Game 5 of the World Series against the Yankees.
The interview, which took place in front of a small live audience, will air on MLB Network Radio Friday (1 p.m., 5 p.m., 8 p.m. PST) and again Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Among the strong points:
Roberts on the dizzying array of pitching injuries that forced the Dodgers to use 17 different starters and 40 pitchers total: “Our organization does such a good job of scouting, developing, trading guys and having depth, but there were a lot of guys, to be honest, that were on our list that I had never heard of. I know you here today better than some of these players who pitched for me this year.
Roberts on the rare team meeting he called before a Sept. 15 game in Atlanta, the day after the Dodgers learned Glasnow had suffered a season-ending elbow injury and a loss 10 -1 against the Braves had cut their division lead over San Diego to 3 1/2 games. :
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“The crux of the meeting was, ‘I believe in each of you, but it doesn’t matter, if you don’t believe in each other, we have enough talent in this room to win 11 games in October.’ .”
Roberts about the conversation he had that same afternoon with Walker Bühlerwho went 1-5 with a 5.95 ERA in a September 15 start in which the right-hander, returning from a second Tommy John surgery, allowed one earned run and three hits in six innings of a 9-2, landmark victory against the Braves.
“Walker was struggling, but I told him, ‘You pitched some of the most significant games in Dodgers history and you were successful.’ We need you to step up tonight and go on a heater, because if we don’t have you, we’re not going to win the World Series. It was a challenge to raise the bar for all of us, and he responded. to the call.
Roberts during a 10-2 loss in Game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Padres, during which pitcher Jack Flaherty and San Diego slugger Manny Machado repeatedly chewed each other and Machado drew the ire of the Dodgers when he threw a ball toward Roberts. in the third base dugout between innings:
“They wanted a street fight – I think we needed to turn into street fighters and play their game. We needed to do something to level the playing field, and I felt things kind of tipped after that.
“It certainly is,” Cranston said. “In the last two (NLDS) games, your pitching staff hasn’t allowed a run.”
Roberts on Freeman’s World Series grand slam: “It was for me the greatest moment I’ve ever witnessed in person in sports. We celebrated after that hit like we had just won Game 7. It felt like we had won the World Series, and when you look back, maybe that’s when we won the World Series.
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Cranston then shifted the interview focus to 2025, asking Roberts how the Dodgers could improve next season.
“The biggest thing we’ve done so far is sign Blake Snell,” Roberts said of the veteran left-hander who signed a five-year, $182 million contract in late November. “We have Glasnow coming back, we have Yoshinobu coming back…
“Sasaki,” Cranston interjected, referring to the highly touted 23-year-old right-hander. Roki Sasakiwho was assigned to the Chiba Lotte Marines in November and is expected to sign with a major league team in January. “Sasaki.”
“Well,” said Roberts, “I can’t say anything about that.”
“Sasaki,” Cranston persisted.
“Don’t get me in trouble, Bryan,” Roberts said with a laugh.
Roberts thinks about the Dodgers, who hope to re-sign a free agent slugger Teoscar Hernández and add another impact reducer, “should be better” in 2025 than they were in 2024,” but he acknowledged that “it’s hard to ultimately be better than winning a world championship.”
If the Dodgers want to become the first team to repeat as champions since the Yankees won three straight titles from 1998 to 2000, they will need the right mindset and motivation, a topic Roberts has discussed this week with Dodgers partial owner Magic Johnson, the featured item. guard who led the Lakers to five NBA titles from 1980 to 1988.
“I really think the carrot, the incentive for our club, in 2025, is now you get into legacy territory,” Roberts said. “I talked to Magic about the 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.
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This story was originally published in Los Angeles Times.
