Dodgers Spring Training w/ Announcer Tim Neverett

Dodgers Baseball with Tim Neverett Feb 5 2024

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. I am Mark Corbett, your host. And with me today, I have Mr. Tim Neverett, announcer for the Dodgers. Hey, Tim, how you doing today, man? 

[00:00:10] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Hey, Mark. Great. Good to see you 

[00:00:11] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: again, brother. I got to tell you, it's great speaking with you. I was going back and listen again to our interview last time with you being the author of Covid Curveball and that was some exciting times.

[00:00:24] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: I didn't know what veil would ever pass and we'd be able to see life as normal again. And this season looks like it might be it. 

[00:00:35] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Yeah, I think so. I'm hoping that it's a normal season again, in terms of winning, I would suspect that would be the case again. The COVID thing that's behind us.

[00:00:45] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Fortunately, we're back to practically normal now and have been for a couple of seasons. So really with what the Dodgers did in the off season and what they're doing heading into spring training here, it's, That's the story. Everybody's really focusing on, I know I am. And there's some new names on the roster, some new guys that we'll see in a lot of these spring training games that we won't see in the big leagues.

[00:01:09] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: So a lot of work to 

[00:01:11] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: do. Wow. You got another book this season, as far as I'm concerned, I'm looking at this and I'm seeing all the changes that have happened with the Dodgers, the commitment to a new season. But the history of year after year, you guys right at 100 plus games per season.

[00:01:31] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: A couple of 90 plus, but my gosh your team has and fans have to be enthusiastic about it. Some of the numbers I was looking at, Tim, you can correct me if you know otherwise is around as far as attendance average around 47, 000 a game. The 

[00:01:49] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Dodgers lead the world in attendance, right? In everything, whether it's.

[00:01:55] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Whether whether it's Premier League soccer, whether it's whatever, when you look at it at the end of the year, the Dodgers lead the world. In attendance, and that's no, that's not hyperbole. That's not even an exaggeration. They just do this year. We'll be looking at over 3 million again this year, maybe 4 million fans. 

[00:02:16] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: I know that with the addition of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glass, now that it's going to. Help the club in a lot of different ways adding to the players that we've already got that are superstars like Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. You got Mookie Betts on your team.

[00:02:33] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: It's hard to find somebody who can overshadow him, but the Dodgers went out and did that with with signing Otani. And Otani is only going to hit this year. He is going to work on throwing. He's getting on a throwing program following Tommy John surgery, but he's going to focus on being DH only. And he's coming off a year where he was the American League MVP. 

[00:02:54] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: You got guys, if you have, if you look at the top three guys, the three superstars, the top of the order, you got Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Joey Otani. I think there's four MVP awards between the three guys or among the three guys. So it's a pretty talented lineup. And I know that.

[00:03:15] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: When I get down to Arizona, it's going to be I'm going to have to go a little earlier to find a place to park close enough to the ballpark because there's going to be a lot of interests, especially from the media, both domestically and internationally that are going to show up on day one. 

[00:03:32] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: Pitchers and catchers report, man, it's just around the corner.

[00:03:35] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: What less than two weeks, three weeks tops. 

[00:03:38] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Yeah. Yeah. And a lot of players go early. Anyway pitchers and catchers report is an official report date, but there have been guys down there already throwing and hitting. And we've got a lot of minor leaguers who are already down there working out.

[00:03:53] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: It's, that's just a date on the calendar and a date when they can start to do things in terms of the ball club with the roster putting 60 day. Injured list and then adding people to the 40 man, you can do that the day pitchers and catchers report. So that's pretty much a day on the calendar for the Dodgers and a lot of guys are already down there.

[00:04:19] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: Yeah, the excitement has built. I know you mentioned Ohtani and who can't my goodness, man, you over I said I guess the thing of your showing say I probably don't have to move too far from since I'm still in L. A. It's wow the impact that he's made in the game. He might as well be Taylor Swift, but, 

[00:04:42] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: He is he is, he's the Taylor Swift of baseball.

[00:04:46] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: There's no doubt about that. When the Dodgers had their Dodger fest the other day at Dodger stadium it took seven security guards just to walk him out and the hordes of media from all over the world to catch his every step, every word. It's like that around him. And with the Dodgers, it's going to be even more magnified than it was with the angels. 

[00:05:10] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: It's that's going to be everywhere we go. It's going to be a circus. It's going to be like traveling with the Beatles. Having him on the team bus and having him on the plane, it's just going to be a wild circus. 

[00:05:26] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: I can't imagine, but the excitement. Before he signed with you guys, everybody and their brother thought they maybe had a chance of Otani coming there.

[00:05:36] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: I see looking around. I see the blue Jays were probably as anticipatory as anybody. And I can't imagine what it was like because I think there's 2 or 3 days where people are saying he's coming to me. He's going to be here in Toronto. He's going to be here in Toronto. And I imagine that ticket office was Busy.

[00:05:55] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: They may have a sold out season. I don't know after all that. You gotta, it was funny. I was laughing at all that stuff. I thought the Giants actually had a better chance than Toronto to get him. The whole story about there's a plane heading from Orange County to Toronto as a private plane, and the media was waiting at the Toronto airport to film whoever got off that plane, and it wasn't him.

[00:06:22] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: I was laughing about that because I'm a believer in waiting to see what happens before it actually happens. Uh, there was always conversation about Otani. Among the press, I think more than anything, speculation, even last year we'd go somewhere and maybe the other team's broadcaster would be having a conversation with me.

[00:06:47] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And what are you going to do when you get Ohtani next year? That would be the conversation. He'd just laugh it off. You're like, wow let's wait and see if it happens first. It would be great if we could have him because he's, Babe Ruth. He's actually, when you look at his numbers and stuff he's actually better than Babe Ruth was both at pitching and hitting for average and different other metrics.

[00:07:11] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: So we're seeing a once in a lifetime player, and fortunately he's wearing Dodger blue. And he said the other day at Dodger Fest, he said that it really didn't sink in until he saw all the fans there. And he says, now it's starting to sink in that he's a Dodger and what it means and how different it is than being an angel.

[00:07:31] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: I have seen some of the footage from Dodger Fest on YouTube and the excitement that little I can glean from those videos is huge. And looking at some of the new guys that came. You've got one of my boys here from Tampa. He's actually a hometown guy from LA and that's Tyler glass.

[00:07:50] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: Now he's happy to be home. I'm sure. But wow. You've got him. Let's see who else is on that lineup now. Yamamoto. Oh, wow. I guess I could say, wow, three or four more times, Tim. 

[00:08:03] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: The interesting thing about Yamamoto first is. I'm curious to see how they handle him in terms of the workload and how they handle the adjustment from the schedule that he was accustomed to in Japan you pitch once a week in Japan, so it's not every fifth day.

[00:08:25] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: So I don't suspect. They're going to just run him out there and try to rack up a bunch of innings in April and May and June. I would suspect that they have a plan for him in terms of of his load management, if you will, to steal a term from the NBA. And I'd be all for it because I think any Dodger fan would be for it because you got to be ready in September and April and October.

[00:08:49] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: That's when it really counts. This is a guy who threw a no hitter last year. I don't know if you've gone on YouTube and watched the video of his no hit game, but he's got amazing movement on the baseball. Granted, they use a different baseball in Japan too. So again, these are adjustments.

[00:09:03] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: We'll have to wait and see. He's got all the talent. It's just a matter of let's see how he puts it together. And then Tyler Glasnow. I don't think he's cut his hair since I first met him. When I, when he was first drafted. By the Pittsburgh Pirates, I was actually with the Pirates and we went on a winter caravan on a bus and he was on my bus one year and you wouldn't recognize him now compared to what he looked like then.

[00:09:30] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: He was a skinny young kid with a really short haircut good guy. We thought, Hey, we can't wait till he gets to the big leagues. He'll be a great interview. He'll be a great quote. And he has been. And I think he's a Santa Corita guy. He's just from north of LA and he's home.

[00:09:51] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: This was his team growing up. And I do believe that it's not going to take very long for Dodger fans to really, lean toward Tyler Glass. Now, especially with his ability, he's been through his injuries. Hopefully he's, he can stay healthy. And again, there's another guy that Dodgers are going to be watching his innings load.

[00:10:11] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: There'll be a time during the year where he might not pitch for a couple of weeks. And it's just because they're trying to get everybody loaded up for October. They don't want what happened last year to happen again. Clayton Kershaw was pitching injured. We find that out later after he gets shoulder surgery as soon as the series, the season ended, and he didn't look right.

[00:10:33] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: He didn't look right a couple of starts before that. The one that he had against the Diamondbacks, Bobby Miller. First time on the biggest of big stages in the postseason, he got hit around and no disrespect to the Diamondbacks. They were hot at the right time. They got hot at the very right time.

[00:10:49] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And the Dodgers cooled off, the bats cooled off and the pitching cooled off. And there was a lot of injuries in terms of the pitching. We're in the bullpen before you could blink. And that was not the plan this year, they're loaded up with talent and they're hopeful over the long season that talent is all healthy and ready to go.

[00:11:10] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And one of those guys are really going to count on his Walker Bueller. So that's why I will, even though he's healthy right now, I wouldn't expect to see him at the beginning of the season. That's my feeling. I think they said something about it at at Dodger Fest the other day, but. My guess is that Walker Buehler is not on the opening day roster and that's fine because that's going to be part of the plan.

[00:11:29] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: They're going to slow play him, maybe get him ready for May 1st or May 15th and then let him rip from there. But there's a guy you need in October. In the young pitchers too, that we've got, Emmett Sheehan, Gavin Stone and Michael Grove, those guys showed that they can pitch.

[00:11:49] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: I like she in a lot. I think he's going to do well. I still think the Dodgers are going to add in the bullpen. I know they added Ryan Brazier back today, the trade of Caleb Ferguson to the Yankees that created a spot for Brazier. There's still a lot to be done, I think, but it's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.

[00:12:11] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: That's interesting, the trade with the Yankees has just happened. I'll be honest, I'm not sure if I'm saying the gentleman's name right. Christian Zazuta. Yeah, 

[00:12:18] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: he'll be the young younger of the two and the the more advanced of the two is a left hander who we may see sometime this season. He was with the Astros.

[00:12:31] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: He's got major league time. There's a possibility that he could be a clone of Caleb Ferguson being a left handed guy that can get both righties and lefties out. So that's what they're hoping out of this trade, not only to create a space for Ryan Brazier to come back. Brazier was terrific when he came up and started throwing the cutter because he hadn't thrown that pitch before when he came over from the Red Sox, they went down to the pitching lab in Glendale, and they said here, hold the ball this way, this is going to be a new secondary pitch for you, and his cutter was unbelievable, it really was, so he hadn't thrown it before, and that was, that pitch might have made all the difference for Brazier, and he's a veteran, he's been in the big games, he's been in the World Series, he knows what it's all about.

[00:13:20] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And he's a guy that I think you'll want to leverage situation and really happy to see the Dodgers bring Grazier back, 

[00:13:29] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: With the Dodgers and like a lot of teams, I always worry about post season because this point, I'm sorry, you've already done 160 games. That body has been worn down quite a bit and the expectations are high.

[00:13:42] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: And myself and others, before we actually got into post season said the Dodgers have a bye. Yeah, but that isn't necessarily a good thing. It's good Lord, sit on the shelf for a week and expect to be coming back while these other guys are out there competing. What do you think about not necessarily the Dodgers per se, but the whole idea of having a sit out while everybody else is still warming up in the post season?

[00:14:08] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: The post season to me is so different now. It's more it's like the NCAA tournament. You just have to get in. And that's you play 162 that used to have meaning and it, okay. You say, okay, it has meaning. You can get a rest. You can reset your pitching. Everybody will be healthy. Yeah.

[00:14:27] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: But you're playing against your own people for you have simulated games against some of your AAA guys and some of your major league guys. And it's a, it's not the same. You can't simulate the experience. I am more in favor of keeping uh, keeping active. In terms of planning, I would like to see them maybe re examine.

[00:14:53] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And this is not because of what happened to the Dodgers, this is just because we have these conversations just casually in the booth off the air before we saw this take place, saying this is not going to be good for the teams that get the buy do we really want the buy, would you rather, I'd rather play.

[00:15:13] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And if I'm a hitter, I'd rather be seeing velocity. I'd rather be seeing the opposition pitchers. I'd rather be out there that way and in an uncontrolled environment as opposed to a controlled environment at Dodger Stadium, where you're playing a team made up of your bench guys and minor league guys. 

[00:15:29] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: So I'm not a big fan of that by. The Braves, they somehow snuck out of it, but they started out really slow after the by two and again, it's going to take place. I know major league baseball took notice big time and they've heard a lot about it. And at some point in time, if they're not addressing it now, they will be addressing it, but you have to address these things so far in advance and make these changes so far in advance.

[00:15:58] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Maybe they're if I'm them, I'm probably thinking, oh boy, I think we're stuck until we expand and that's coming to at some point. We'll see. But in the meantime, whatever game's in front of you, you got to win it. No matter if you've been sitting out for five or six days or not.

[00:16:14] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: Agreed. Agreed. And like I said, it wasn't really speaking specifically to the Dodgers, except there they are for last year. The whole idea is that the bye, and that was something that Mat Germain made, another guy who's an analyst on the show quite often. It just says. The opportunity to get cold or not to be competitive, it's difficult, especially if you've done 162 games and the rest of the guys are staying there.

[00:16:37] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: And I don't know if it contributes to some of those guys going to go to, because nobody expect to see Mookie or Freeman slow down one of the numbers. I think I read was 1 out of 13 and geez nobody anticipated that. I think there's going to be an energy with the Dodgers this year, though, that will supersede any of that, but big picture.

[00:16:59] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: I really wonder if we'll find. Probably after expansion if we scale back to 152 games and maybe do something a little bit different with the postseason. I don't know. We'll see. 

[00:17:10] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: But I doubt we're going to shrink the games. I really do in spite of what Anthony Rendon wants. He doesn't play the full season anyway, so I don't know why he's the poster child for that shorting the season.

[00:17:23] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: But at the same time, I'm still in favor of 162 full season. I don't want to see him shrink it. And who else doesn't want to see him shrink it? The owners. Oh yeah. Because if you look at chopping 10 games off the schedule that's five home games probably, and that's. Uh I doubt it. Are the players willing to take 10 games less worth the money? 

[00:17:50] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: No. So the owners, so I don't see that as a possibility of them shrinking the season ever. I really don't. I, in fact, I'd probably see them. We've seen it lengthen where it starts in March and the world series finishes in November. Now when we were kids, that was never the case. It was always April.

[00:18:09] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Like usually the second week of April. And you have scheduled double headers during the course of the season, which we still have now, just as a novelty. We had one last September in Colorado, which is beautiful. And then the way it's spread out for television, it doesn't finish till the beginning of November now.

[00:18:27] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: Yeah. It's amazing when you think about it, it makes you. Makes me evaluate over time with a lot of these pictures to Tim. I'm looking at and saying we expect a lot from somebody like Clayton Kershaw and maybe they're reticent to say anything they're experiencing, but they bring so much to the gate and the Tommy John surgeries have just elevated to nobody's business.

[00:18:51] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: We got to take care of the arms. You're talking about Walker Buehler. They're not going to, they're not going to throw him out there and immediately do nine innings and be in a rotation of every five games, I think. 

[00:19:03] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And don't forget Dustin May too. He'll be back. He's been throwing for several weeks already.

[00:19:11] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: So he'll be back after his second surgery. The second surgery he had was not Tommy John, though it was a different type. But I would suspect he'll be back and there's a guy that needs to really watch his innings. We can't forget about him. We can't forget about Blake trying to. Who was so good coming out of the bullpen.

[00:19:30] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: He said that it's his first healthy off season, fully healthy off season. He's had in a long time. He feels great last year. He didn't feel great. And we went to pitch and triple a so it just develops I'm anxious to see these guys throwing games against live hitting. Pretty soon.

[00:19:45] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: We're going to see plenty of that coming up and in the next couple of weeks. But, tony Gonsolin, we won't see him he's Tommy John. He won't be around this year. But to see Buehler back, I think is going to be terrific. He wanted to pitch at the end of the last season. That's how good he feels.

[00:20:04] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And the doctors were like no. We got one, one more year under contract with you. So no, you're not going to wreck that or take a chance. But I'm happy to see what he can do. And then you mentioned Clayton Kershaw we don't know what his future holds except that because of the shoulder surgery we don't have any kind of a start date for him, but it's going to be mid season at the earliest.

[00:20:32] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: How do you handle that? Do the Dodgers sign him? Does he sign with the Dodgers? He's going to have a choice. The Rangers are right there 30 minutes from his driveway in Texas. It'd be a convenient thing for him. Or does he finish his career as a Dodger? I think a lot of people would love to see him back in LA.

[00:20:49] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Even if it's for just the stretch run I think if you can add an arm like that that's going to be terrific. You could sign them at some point, put them on the 60 and then get them ready to go. And he would have his spring training in like June and then come back in July and August and be ready for the stretch. That's something that's I think hopeful for a lot of people around the Dodgers to see Kershaw back, whether he comes back still remains to be seen. 

[00:21:18] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: I hope he does. He's entertainer as much as everything else. I'm outside of a superb pitcher and somebody who's definitely going to have a place in history with a game.

[00:21:27] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: So hopefully for Dodgers fans, he stays there, but I'm sure there's a lot of Rangers fans that said, we wouldn't mind seeing him out here in Texas as well. Let me ask you now, kind of Tim speak to you as an announcer. You are in a storied history of announcers. I think back to Red Barber, one of the most colorful speaking announcers starting out with you guys.

[00:21:55] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: And what was it? There used to be something on NPR years ago, I cannot remember the guy he did an interview with Red Barber every Friday, and they would talk stories about Red living up in Tallahassee and taking care of his flowers and the missus and all that. But, and one of the things I remember them talking to him about was the language.

[00:22:19] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: He said he didn't, he never cursed in private, so he he wouldn't curse in public. And, but he'd say things like, oh, doctor or I'll be a suck egg mule. 

[00:22:32] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Yeah. He had that Southern charm, the Southern expressions. I used to not to compare him at all, but when I was doing basketball, I had an analyst who was from the south and he would always come up with phrases like that.

[00:22:47] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: He'd make me laugh. He'd say that that guy, what did he say? He used to say something like that. That guy slid along the floor like a fat kid in corduroys or something so you listen to these funny sayings. From people that they just heard when they're growing up.

[00:23:05] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: We heard, I heard them too in the East and anything I might say is a lot more subtle than what they would say, but the old doctor stuff, they were so famous in terms of those lines and even stuff that Vin said referring to the baseball as a she she is got you really have to be careful to not say the things that people who came before you said, so they don't think you're ripping them off or something.

[00:23:35] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: But I, the only thing that that I'll say that Vin said is if there's two outs, two on and it's a 2 2 count but I'll give him credit. I'll say a deuce is wild as the master would say, and you might hear me say that from time to time. I don't say it and then not give him credit. I've heard others do that. But but being in the Dodger booth, I've got to give him credit for sure. But yeah, there's a lot of funny sayings, but Red Barber had some, and he's, his picture hangs in the wall behind the broadcast booths along with a lot of the other, or actually every other broadcaster that the Dodgers have ever had. 

[00:24:16] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And it's neat though, the history when you look at it, because it was Red that, that hired Vin when Vin was a 20 something out of a Fordham. He just, I think he might've. Just graduated from Fordham and Vin had written the Red Barber before and told him what he wanted to do and timing worked out and he said, okay, I'm gonna send you over to Fenway Park and you're gonna do what was it, Mar I was, I wanna say it was Maryland and Boston University and football, something like that.

[00:24:49] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: You're gonna go do a football game. And it was freezing cold and Vin left his coat back at the hotel. So he got to Fenway. And this game was on national radio and Brett had hired Vin to do this because he was in charge of it from New York. And so here's a 20 something year old kid out of Fordham.

[00:25:11] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: He's calling this football game from the roof of Fenway park, freezing the whole time and not once did he ever complain about the weather, that he was cold, that he forgot his coat, nothing. And that impressed Red Barber so much that he said, why don't you come out to Brooklyn and let's see how you do on the Dodgers.

[00:25:32] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And started giving him some innings. And so that's how it all started. And, I've heard Vin tell the story and it's just remarkable. I remember when I was with the Red Sox and we came in 2016, we found the old program cover of that game. Maryland and and Boston University and had it all framed and done up.

[00:25:55] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And our general manager at the time, Dave Dombrowski, went in there and presented it to him. And it was a really neat gift based on that story that, that VIN told and how he got connected to Red Barber and how he worked for Red at first doing college football and then turned into the Brooklyn Dodgers. 

[00:26:13] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: Wow. You are established yourself in your own right. But I say many times we all stand on the shoulders of giants and it's must be. It's like you walk into a hall of fame of announcers just coming into be a part of the Dodgers organization. I would think, but you're very diverse yourself. 

[00:26:34] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: It isn't just baseball. You've called a lot of other things as well. What are some of the other things that have been on your plate? 

[00:26:41] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: I've done a lot of college football, a lot of basketball, hockey, done a lot of hockey, pro hockey and and college hockey. Which I'll probably do it some level again.

[00:26:53] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Next offseason, I think did four different Olympics two winter, two summer and did men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball in the summer and in the winter did men's and women's ice hockey. And then a couple of ones I've never done before. I did, 120 meter long hill ski jumping. Wow.

[00:27:19] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Which, which was fun. I actually enjoyed it. I also did women's aerials. Competition, which I had never done before. I got thrown in at the last minute and had to learn it on the fly and did not have an analyst and to do it I had 24 hours notice, but that was nothing though, compared to, 2004 in Athens, Greece, I had 10 minutes notice before I had to do Iraq and Portugal and soccer, the announcer got caught in traffic.

[00:27:47] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: They couldn't find anybody else. I happened to be in a research area of the international broadcast center. Our executive producer was from Auckland, New Zealand, and he ran in and he said, have you ever done football? And I'm like, yeah, of course. And then before I could finish the sentence, I realized what he was talking about and I really hadn't done any soccer at that point.

[00:28:07] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: I think I might've done a high school soccer match at one time. Really didn't play the game. Didn't really know the rules. And so before I could finish the sentence, I realized he means soccer because a couple of days before the opening ceremonies, the soccer tournament always starts in the Olympics.

[00:28:25] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: So this was on a Wednesday and I'm in there researching baseball and he goes, good, because in 10 minutes, you're going to do Iraq and Portugal. He goes, and I said, it doesn't bother you that everybody in the 110 countries that's going to be watching this knows more about the game than I do? He goes, nope, you speak English, you're under contract and you're present.

[00:28:48] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: He goes, you have to do it. He goes, I'm sorry. And he sent out another announcer to give me a little tutorial on who was who, which I forgot most of anyway. And it went into what's called an off tube booth, which is just a booth. Offsite and had to call the game off of screens. I had no analyst. And so I followed the rundown.

[00:29:11] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: It was, this is television, right? So I follow the rundown, here we are, is a locator graphic. We're in the Peloponnese. Here's the stadium. We got Iraq. We got a Portugal. It's going to be amazing. Now I don't know what to say after that. I figured I could follow the format and the graphics and everything.

[00:29:28] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And I was fine. And then the game starts and then there's a whistle. And they don't talk to you in your ear, the producers. They don't talk to me like they do here in the States. They just let you go the whole game. So there's a whistle. I don't know. I don't recognize why. And then they realize I don't recognize why.

[00:29:45] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: So a guy gets in my ear with this New Zealand accent and he goes that's offside, mate. And I said, that's offside. And then that's how I learned what offside was in soccer. So it was the most difficult 90 minutes of my broadcasting career. But they they were very appreciative that I sat there and you.

[00:30:05] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Took one for the team. I didn't really have a, I didn't really have a choice though. But I remembered the one thing that saved me was that on my flight over, I had a connection in Munich. And so I get on the plane in Munich and this was before 9 11. They had, this is anybody could get on. This is 2000. 

[00:30:27] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: When was this? Oh, you know what? It was after that. Anyway, in Munich, they let the Portuguese media on the plane. So there's all kinds of television cameras coming down the aisle. And I'm like, who's this? And all these guys are in these these maroon blazers with the logo patch on it. And one guy I'm like, all right, I do recognize that guy.

[00:30:52] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And it was Rinaldo. Oh, wow. And so they're on my commercial, the Portuguese national team's on my commercial flight. And then we go we land in Athens and Ron bag claim and they had to all get their own bags. This is Olympic sports, not pro sport. So he's there. I'm some of the same baggage terminal or baggage carousel.

[00:31:15] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And so I use that as a story during the match and watching Ronaldo play and the fact that they whatever I, that, that's a story I use because I happened to witness it But that was the best story I had. Probably the only story I had in the entire game. But that was that was Olympic stuff.

[00:31:34] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And I've done I've done other things. I've done swimming and diving. I've done track and field, things like that. I really enjoy doing track and field. I wish I'd do that more, but but baseball is, I consider baseball kind of an art form and I really enjoy it, I've been really lucky because I've been able to go back and forth in both the TV and radio booths for the Dodgers or.

[00:31:59] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Many people have not done that. Very few, as a matter of fact, have done that. And it's a different job when you're on TV. It's different. When you do radio, you're you're painting the picture. You, nothing happens until you say it does. Where TV, you've got to caption pictures and set up your analyst.

[00:32:16] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And we've got great analysts. We get to work with Oral Hershizer, Nomar Garciaparra, Eric Karros. You've got some really great old Dodgers that are with us. And of course on radio, I get to work with the greatest. And Rick Monday, who is the most prepared analyst I've ever worked with.

[00:32:35] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Absolutely hilarious. He's got such a great sense of humor and we have great conversations off the air and tons of laughs and we get along real well. He called me a couple days ago. Just to check in and give me a hard time about something. But he's just funny. And we all get along real well.

[00:32:55] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: So that helps makes a big 

[00:32:58] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: difference. If you've got a camaraderie you can feel I see in the past. In most cases, there's a good combination between the announcers, but occasionally you'll see they just pull these guys in from somewhere else. They've never met one another. That may not be the case, but if you can feel a friendliness between them, a shared interest in the game and almost a subliminal communication between announcers, fans appreciate that they get that part of it. 

[00:33:25] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: Thanks to you, Tim, for doing that and you and the rest of the team as well, because it means something. I always. Look at what's happening with some of the different announcers during the game and also those, like you said, Earl, or others who've actually been in the game. And I like the comparison.

[00:33:45] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: I believe both of those people, whether they're a player or not. Appreciate the game. And I sometimes feel like the person who's not the former player has a fan perspective, the player may not, and the player can come in and give a perspective on what kind of pitch was just thrown or something like that.

[00:34:05] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: But anyway, kudos to you and your team there, my friend, glad to see you're all doing so well. 

[00:34:11] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Thank you. Yeah it's funny. We all get along very well. That includes the guys on the Spanish side too. We see we're lucky. We see Fernando Valenzuela all the time. And when you're in that lack of a better term inner circle, but when you're there every day with him he's a real joker.

[00:34:30] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Like he's, people may not realize what a prankster he is and what a funny guy he is, but if you've known him for a while, I've known him for a long while, because believe it or not, I used to call college baseball in Las Vegas when his son, Fernando jr. Was playing at UNLV. And that was when I had first met or met met Fernando years and years ago. 

[00:34:52] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: But to be around him all the time and to have been around Jorge Jaime Jorin, his son Jorge too, but Jaime does come around every once in a while, there's another hall of famer one of the great guys of all time, he has us over to his house for dinner and spring training, and it's just like story after story.

[00:35:12] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: It's just. It's just wonderful. Pepe Niguez and of course, Jose Mota. I've known his dad for a while, but known Jose a long time from his time with the Angels. Just one of the great guys in the game. And, we get to travel with him. In fact, I probably sit on the plane with Jose more than I do anybody else.

[00:35:34] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And then Jose will take off every once in a while, he'll go up and check out what's happening in the cockpit because he likes aviation and Rick Monday does too, by the way, he's a, because Rick is a pilot, people may not know that, but Rick is, he's been a pilot for a long time. Wow. So he gets he gets to know all of our pilots very well and goes up in the cockpit, stuff like that.

[00:35:56] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: But yeah but we got a, we have a really good crew and we all get along pretty well. 

[00:36:03] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: Let me ask you now coming back to the Dodgers in 2024 and spring training coming up. What do you do to prepare for this upcoming season? What kind of homework are you doing? And thinking ahead to the season?

[00:36:18] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: One of the things that I'm doing and have been doing for several weeks now and continuing to do until I get there is going through each team's 40 man rosters. Uh, actually when we get off our call, I have a call with our farm director with the Dodgers and we'll talk about The guys that they're planning on using and bringing over from minor league camp, the guys they want to see, get a look in the big league exhibition games.

[00:36:47] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Some of the just in case guys, the pitchers, we call them JICs, J I C the J I C guys will come over from minor league camp and sit in the bullpen. And if the game gets out of hand they're there just in case. So they come in and pitch. So we have to be ready for those guys too. Because if number 99 with no name on his back comes out of the bullpen, we got to know who it is.

[00:37:12] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: So we spend we spend time actually have one of my sons helped me create a database each year and update it. And we're working on that as we speak and getting pretty far along with it. So we get everybody and then. What happens is inevitably there's a trade or an acquisition and I'll go back in the database and the White Sox just made a deal with the Mariners the other day.

[00:37:37] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: So I'll go back and I'll switch the guys around and put them on the right teams. And so when they when we play them, I have all the information handy and ready to go, but I'll also have gone over it ahead of time. And we'll have a familiarity, especially on the pitchers that are going to be used.

[00:37:54] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: We'll get a little tip off on which pitchers are going to be used the next day. I know where to look in the clubhouse for that. So I'll find out, okay, tomorrow at so and I'll take a little picture if I don't have time to write it down and then that after that game, I can prepare for the pictures of the next day. 

[00:38:11] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: There's a lot more like in spring training, because you're not playing the same team three or four days in a row, like you do during the regular season, you're playing a new team every day. So when our games are done. It's right back to the drawing board and you're working at night and first thing in the morning, and then you get over there and you do your routine.

[00:38:32] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: You go talk to the manager, go out in the backfields, talk to some players, coaches, whatever. And then you're back at it again. So it's a lot, it's actually a lot more work in spring training to prepare for a game that it is a regular season game. And because you have so many more players playing in the spring games, first couple of days, we'll have probably 25.

[00:38:53] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: 26 players, a team maybe. So 50 to 52 players will get into a game. Wow. The first few games, usually that's how it works. And then ahead of time, I get tipped off ahead of time I have an arrangement with somebody who tells me how many of bats they're going to have today?

[00:39:15] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: The starters. Who's coming in at certain positions right afterwards so that you're not out there in the fifth inning going, Oh, who's the third? Who's the second? Who's the short? Oh gosh, you got to write it down. Commercial coming back, come back. I know I try to, as best I can to know ahead of time rather than try to guess.

[00:39:33] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Yeah. 

[00:39:34] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: That's the third guy's a day in right field and ain't moving. Exactly. Exactly. Man that's a lot of prep, but I got to tell you what, you guys know your stuff and it comes across. We're talking with Tim Nevart. He is indeed the announcer for both radio and TV with the Dodgers. And Tim, we talked before about your book COVID Curveball on your last visit.

[00:39:57] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: Is that still in circulation? 

[00:39:59] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: It is actually. Yeah. I just had a request the other day from somebody that got it on Amazon. But it's still out there. Typically, right now, I would just say Amazon is the best place to find it or wherever books are sold online. Occasionally, you're going to run into it in a bookstore somewhere. 

[00:40:20] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: But, I had a lot of them where I was signing them custom inscriptions and then would. Ship them out and we had Oral sign because Oral Hershizer did the forward for it. He signed a large group of them as well. But we're just we put that to bed, but the book is still out there.

[00:40:43] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: And I know I've seen it on Amazon recently, but that's where I'd probably 

[00:40:48] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: start. All right. Yeah. I've found myself more and more buying eBooks. I like the feel though, the heft of having a book of paper in my hand, but. Guys, if you haven't seen this book, check it out again. It's Tim Neverett. He's the author of COVID Curveball and I enjoyed every page that turned in that book.

[00:41:06] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: It's great. It's entertaining and it's fun. And I think you've got a season in front of you. It may not be as eventful as far as the surroundings, but as far as the team, the fans, this season's going to explode for the Dodgers. I have no doubt. It's scary almost. 

[00:41:23] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Yeah, it's going to be good. I think when you look at the division, you say, okay, who's going to battle them for the division?

[00:41:31] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: I think the diamondbacks will diamondbacks actually improved, believe it or not with some additions they made I don't know if the giants are going to be there. I don't know if where the Padres fit in and the Rockies. Unfortunately, we all know where they're going to fit in. Yeah.

[00:41:45] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: That's it's too bad for them because they've got a great market, a great ballpark, but they just have not been able to figure it out. And. They'll win a few games here and there, but they're not they might be looking at another a hundred lost season. But as far as the Dodgers are concerned, I think they're, they should win the division.

[00:42:04] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: I would feel comfortable saying that they should win the division. It's going to be a good battle when they play the Diamondbacks now, I think, and the Padres too, Giants are going to it's always a fun game when they play the Giants. But then after that, again, you get down to the post season, who's healthy.

[00:42:21] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Who's playing well, who's hitting, who's hot, who's who's pitching well, and who's hot, who's got the hot arm out of the bullpen. So there's a lot of stories to be written between now and then. There really are. 

[00:42:32] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: All right. Tim, I can't thank you enough again for joining us here on BaseballBiz On Deck.

[00:42:37] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: I'm Mark Carver, your host, and if you want to know anything about baseball you can start here. Follow Tim. Listen to him. You can find him on, wherever can they find you on social media, Tim? 

[00:42:49] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Just on Twitter, or I guess it's called X now, but Twitter, everybody still calls it Twitter. That's one place, Instagram, Facebook, just under my name, Tim Neverett.

[00:42:59] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: Those are the places to find find where I am. And again, the book's available on Amazon. The audio, I forgot about the audio book. The audio book, also on Audible. You can get that through Amazon and Audible as well, if you don't want to. To feel the pages. You want to just listen to it on your commute or whatever the audio books 

[00:43:17] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: available to, all right. 

[00:43:18] Mark Corbett, BaseballBiz On Deck Host: Thank you again, Tim. I appreciate you being on the show today, my friend. Okay. Anytime. I appreciate it. I take care. Wow, man, that was fantastic. I'm glad you, thanks for giving us the time, Tim. And it's going to be an exciting season, my friend. 

[00:43:34] Tim Neverett, LA Dodgers Announcer: I'm sure it should be fun. Yeah. And everybody's excited for spring spring games to start and whatnot.

Special Thanks to Tim Neverett, Dodgers Announcer,  Author of "Covid Curveball" Tim can be found @TimNeverett on Twitter and you can hear him call play by play on  Los Angeles Dodgers Play-By-Play Radio & TV
Covid Curveball" can be found on Amazon at " https://www.amazon.com/COVID-Curveball-Angeles-Dodgers-Championship/dp/1637581432 

 BaseballBiz On Deck is also on iheartradio, Stitcher, Apple & Google podcasts 
You can reach Mark @TheBaseballBiz on Twitter & Brandon @SportsBlitzPod 
Special thanks to XTaKeRuX for the music "Rocking Forward"

Tags:

ShoheiOhtani, Ohtani, Dodgers, Tim Neverett, Vin Scully, Red Barber, Tyler Glasnow, Fernando Valezuela, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Padres, Giants, Covid Curveball, Spring Training, Yamamoto, pitching, Dustin May, Tony Goslin, Blake Treinen, Rick Monday, Orel Hershiser, Oh Doctor, Tommy Johns