Bryan Cranston (8-14-23)

David Vassegh talks to actor and Dodger fan Bryan Cranston.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
We never know who you may seeat Dodgers Stadium. You may even see
our next guest who is a hugeDodger fan. He's also one of the
best actors out there. I don'tneed to get into his resume. But
also, you never know when youmight run into Brian Cranston at a ping
pong charity event at Dodgers Stadium.And Brian Cranston joins us right now on

(00:22):
Dodger Talk. Thanks a lot forthe time. Thanks David, good to
be with you. Hey, younever know, you know, I think
I enjoyed a paloma the most withyou and drinking it with a mescal dos
Ombres at Kershaw's event. Oh itis. It's a delicious spirit and everybody
was everybody was digging it. Soit was fun to be out there with

(00:45):
dose Ombres at the ping pong tournamentand they raised a lot of money,
which was terrific. And it wasjust this always every year. It's just
so much fun. How did youdo in the tournament? I stayed at
the dos Ombres stand, so Imissed you. Well, we can move
on from that, David. Wedon't need to dwell on those things.
Aaron Paul and I uh played JojoSiwa and I forget who were partner.

(01:11):
Wasn't that and uh and we crushedthem. We crushed them, but they've
never played before, so it wasit was a bit like uh, you
know, smacking a puppy. Itwas. It wasn't it wasn't fun.
And then we played two other guyswho eventually played. Uh. If we

(01:33):
had won the second game, whichwe did not, we then would have
played Mookie and Freddie, the eventualchamps. Yeah, and I gotta tell
you, it's like it doesn't matterif it's poker or ping pong or piddly
winks, uh Jo my age.These guys are competitors. They want to

(02:00):
win at everything and that you know. Freddie and Mookie really practiced hard when
they got there, and they werejust really focused. They were having a
good time, but you could tellthey were taking this very seriously. And
Aaron and I said, Okay,next year, next year. We got
it. We got We hadn't playedin a long time, so we're gonna

(02:23):
we're gonna brush up a little bitand be ready for them. We're gonna
take down the champs. I loveit. I love it. I know
Clayton Kershaw. Although he was agracious host, you could tell he was
a little upset awarding them the championshiptrophy. Isn't that true? I mean
he talked about a competitor. Iand Barnesy had played as teammates before in

(02:45):
the in the ping Pong tournament andwon so but but you know, it's
his own tournament. It's a littleit's a little awkward when he awards himself
the trophy. So it was goodthis way. How well do you know
Clayton Kershaw, Brian Hell, youknow, I met him a few times
of course every year at the pingPong tournament, and it's it's been fun

(03:07):
and and supporting he and his wifeand this endeavor, Pink Pong for a
Purpose is such a great organization.They raised a tremendous amount of money for
for kids in need. And youknow, as if they don't have enough
on their hands with all the kidsand the travel and you know so,

(03:28):
but but that's just who they are. That's who they are. They're they're
really wonderfully decent human beings and it'salways great to see them and say hello
and chat and catch up with it. It's it's been a fun, fun
relationship. One of my favorite momentsfrom this past event was sipping on a
paloma with you in front of theDos Ombres stand and look who drifted over.

(03:53):
JD. Martinez and Max Munsey,and I think they were a little
nervous and intimidated to meet you.I had to break the ice with you.
Guys. They well, I gavehim a cocktail and that that eased
their concerns a little bit. Uh, it was. It's so much fun

(04:13):
because it's the off day for theDodger fans listening the pig pong for a
purpose that the Kershaws do is alwaysscheduled during the week when it just happens
to be a homestand where there's aday off. So they finished on a
Wednesday, they had a day offThursday, but stayed home and they continue

(04:36):
the homestand for the weekend. Soanytime they see that in the schedule,
that's always going to be when theyhave the tournament. So all the players
come out. Look, you know, Clayton's like the captain, So if
he says, guys, can youcome out and support the charity, You're
gonna do it because he's he's theguy and you want to do it,

(04:58):
and they had a great time andeither playing poker or playing ping pong and
walking around great food trucks they havethere. It's really a fun, fun
evening. Brian Cranston is our gueston Dodger Talk. All right, Brian,
as we sit here, the Dodgershave an eight game winning streak.
They're on pace for ninety eight wins. They have an eight and a half

(05:19):
game lead over the San Francisco Giants. Are they exceeding your expectations? They
are? In truth, I thoughtit was going to be nip and tuck
all the way down the end ofthe season with the Padres. I just
can't believe that the Padres are reelingso desperately right now. It pleases me

(05:43):
being a huge Dodger fan and havingsome Padre fan friend of mine that I
can needle. But I just lookat it and I just marvel with that
lineup. You look at the paperwith that San Diego lineup, and you
just you shake your head. Youdon't know why they're doing what they're doing.
Soto called another meeting of players owneronly meeting when they were in Seattle,

(06:05):
and he got their their butts kickeda little bit and came out of
the meeting and then started talking aboutwe're reeling, we give up, we
don't have grit, we don't Andso I don't see San Diego keeping this
group together. I don't see themgetting into the playoffs. They're just they're
just not coalescing around the captain.They need someone to really to really guide

(06:31):
them and get them out of theirfunk, you know. And San Francisco
actually was a kind of a surpriseto how well they played. But it
looks like our boys in Blue arepulling away. I don't want to be
too cocky about it. I wasat the stadium yesterday to see Julio performed
really well. Two mistakes and heknew it. I could see his body

(06:55):
language as soon as he threw it. He braced and the guy hit the
two on home un to tie thegame at the time, and he was
bad at himself. The next battercame up and hit a comebacker to Julio.
He grabbed it and in a veryviolent, angry way and threw it
at first really angrily, and thenscreamed. It was great to see that,

(07:18):
you know, he knew he madea mistake. It's not the end
of the world. He's got agreat team behind him that will come back.
No one panicked, but it wasgreat to see that he knew what
he did. He went on tostrike out twelve guys. Come on.
Terrific performance, and we need him. We need him there. It's going
to be interesting on Wednesday. SeeClayton pitch Is. That's just only a

(07:42):
second time back, isn't it.Yeah, yeah, on the mountain.
Yeah. Hey, I was wonderingwhen you're sitting in those seats watching Julio,
did you realize he struck out sevenin a row. I didn't at
the time, but I realized whenit was over. I said, man,
how many strikeouts get? Yeah,it was. It was pretty incredible.

(08:05):
He's to me, the key tothe Dodgers success in October. They
obviously can win the World Series ifJulio doesn't carry them there, but I
believe they're counting on him to carrythem to the finish line. They need
that horse, and he seems tobe the best candidate for that. He

(08:26):
certainly has been, and we absolutelyneed him. Look that there's no secrets.
The Dodgers have been hurt badly thisyear with injuries. And I don't
know if it seems that way toyou, but across the majors, doesn't
it seem like there's been more injuriesthan I've seen before. Everyone seems to

(08:48):
be hitting the aisle at some pointand it's decimating it. You know what
we see when it gets down.We've got almost you know, almost let
us at six six, seven weeksto go before the end of the season.
So it's still a long way togo. And then it depends on
those two things. Can you stayhealthy and can you get hot. We

(09:13):
saw that last year with the Phillies. Not the best team in the East.
They were not better than the Padres, they were not better than the
Dodgers, they were not than severalother teams. But they got hot and
they happened to be healthy at thattime and they went all the way to
the World Service. That's what FreddieFreeman reminds me of every day virtually when

(09:33):
I get a little too excited.He said, Hey, it's about who's
hot at the right time. Ido agree with that to a certain extent,
but I do believe that a mindset, a mentality does matter when you
do get hot. And I thoughtlast year, the Dodgers treated that NLDS
series like it was just another regularseason trip to San Diego. But I

(09:54):
feel like this year they're not takingthat for granted and are not going to
allow that same type of complacency toset in this year. That's got to
be the lesson. It was painfullast year. We had one hundred and
eleven wins and we just got ourbutts handed to us down there, and

(10:18):
it was awful, and it canhappen again. I mean, but baseball
is a funky game. Man.You don't know exactly what's going to happen.
Anyone can turn up and play overtheir heads for a short series and
you could get your team into thenext round. Well, hopefully I'll see

(10:39):
you at the parade at the endof this season. David slowdown slow Now.
I'm with freddie slowdown cold on.We've got We've got two two much
better teams coming up now than we'veplayed in the past this week, so
it's going to be a better testto see the Brewers and the Marlins in

(11:00):
town here and hopefully we can winthe series. Just remember this, there's
something about this team when you whenyou're at a playoff game in October.
There's something about this team that makesme believe I like that at Hey,
Brian Kranstate, we have something elsein common. I just realized doing some

(11:22):
homework on you. You're a valleyguy. I grew up in Woodland Hills,
went to grade school in Canoga Park, and you're a proud Canoga Park
hunter. I am indeed. Wow, that is amazing. I knew I
liked you. You're a valley guy. Oh my gosh, valley guy.
And by the way, when Iwas when I was five years old,

(11:46):
I went in nineteen sixty one.I was My dad took my brother and
I to the LA Coliseum who watchedthe Dodgers play and it was the first
game I had ever been to inthe coliseum. And I don't remember a
lot about it. I was fiveyears old, but I do remember one
thing. There was a player forthe Dodgers who go by the name of

(12:11):
Wally Moon Yeah, and I thought, Wow, what a great name.
And I've never forgotten that name.And later I remember reading about it and
what he was able to do ishit those moonshots over the short porch in
left field. As the configuration ofthe of the Colosseum demanded at the time,
and I ended up calling those moonshots. And then nineteen sixty two,

(12:37):
going to my one of my firstgames in the first homestand at the Dodgers
stay of the new, brand newDodger Stadium. Now we look at it
and it's the third oldest stadium stillin use. It's amazing. Is that
the moment that you fell in lovewith the Dodgers. I know you said
you were a little young five yearsold at the Colosseum, But was that

(12:58):
game in sixty two the moment thatyou fell in love with the Dodgers?
There is, Yes, there issomething. There was just something about the
ambience, the being around other peoplewho are cheering, a happy, eager,
tense, the energy of it,and the listeners I know will agree

(13:20):
with me. We had the bestannouncer of all time, and Vin Scully's
voice even when I was five andsix years old and I'm sixty seven now,
so I've been listening to him allmy life. And God rest his
soul. What a beautiful, beautifulman and what he has done for not
just Dodger fans, but for LosAngeles and fans in general, and and

(13:46):
in his spirit, we continue on. Yes, I just remember, and
I know you experienced this as well, Brian. We all talk about it.
People would bring their transistor radios tolisten to then, and even play
will say that they would hear Vin'svoice calling the action while they were playing.

(14:07):
He's yeah, because there were somany transistor radios in Dodger Stadium.
Everybody was listening. And I remembergoing to school because a lot of the
playoff games and World Series were playedduring the day back when I was in
grade school, and I would sneakmy transistor radio in and my one ear

(14:28):
plug and I would I would potput in my jacket pocket and I would
put my hand covering my ear soI couldn't see the ear plug, and
it would go through my sleeve andinto my tacket and I would be listening
to the World Series while I shouldhave been doing some kind of work in
my class. Love it, Imean, I think we can all identify

(14:50):
with that. I used to dothat for spring training games when they would
only be broadcast on radio. Iwould do the same for spring training games.
I'm saying, way and can't getenough of it, can not get
enough of it before I let yougo. You did such a great job
of narrating one of the great seasonsin Dodger history, the nineteen eighty eight

(15:13):
Dodgers. Do you remember where youwere when Kirk Gibson hit his home run?
I was. I didn't have anytickets to the game. I was
at my sister's house. She washaving a party, and there was only
myself and one other person who waswatching the game because everybody else was outdoors

(15:37):
a party, and and it lookedbleak and it was we were both sitting
back and it's like, oh,this is this is the classic hail Mary.
What do you do? But therehe comes and I'll never forget the
call. Then scutt the scullies call. You know, in a year that

(15:58):
was so improbable, the impossible happens, and it was just it was it
was so stunning. And I thinkthose those are one of the times when
you remember exactly where you were whenyou saw something remarkable like that, and
that catapulted the Dodgers in their sensibilityand their spirit to be able to go

(16:22):
on and win that World Series.And I was so great then to be
asked to narrate that, it bringstears to my eyes when I hear it,
when I watch it, when Iread it, when I first sent
the copy to me and I readit, I was my eyes were welling
up. It was just I wasso proud and honored to be able to

(16:45):
be asked to do that. Andit's it's a really good film. And
I encourage everybody to find that andto step back little nostalgic and it's a
beautiful, beautiful thing. That's whatbaseball is, very nostalgia Jack, and
it connects us to so many differentmoments in time in our lives. And
Brian can't thank you enough for joiningus and sharing your fandom of the Dodgers

(17:10):
and where it all started. Andwe could keep going all night long.
We'll do that another time with somedose ombrests. That would be fun.
That'll be great. Thank you,David and go Blue. Now that was
special. Brian Cranston, Wow,big Dodger fan, big listener to Dodger
Talk and the radio station. Sothank you to Brian, and a special

(17:32):
thanks to my girl wine Mary fromConstellation Brands who walk me over to the
dose Ombre stand and introduced me toBrian Cranston. And that's when I brought
over munci and JD Martinez and manwhere they freaked out, and they were
freaked out because they couldn't believe Cranstonactually listened to the postgame show, So

(17:52):
take that, Muncie and JD Martinez. Thanks again to Brian Cranston for joining
us tonight. The Dose Embrace Itis the real deal, great Mescals,
so I strongly encourage you to haveit.