92ND MLB ALL-STAR GAME

July 19, 2022

Brian Snitker

Dodger Stadium

Press Conference

American League 3, National League 2

Q. So Stanton got the MVP, I'll ask you what you thought of his home run?

BRIAN SNITKER: Well, I've seen him hit a bunch of those over the course of the year. So yeah, we were just all sitting there thinking that thing was, like he hits them, man. He smokes them. Big, strong kid.

Q. You get to face Sandy a lot in your division. How was it on your side?

BRIAN SNITKER: It was great having him on my side. That was probably one of the highlights not having to face him. I look down the dugout and told some of those guys, like welcome to my world. He's just so good. He's just -- you know, he didn't disappoint tonight, either. Just very crisp, efficient, and like I've seen him do many times.

Q. As you've been around a long time and watch all these pitchers come in on both teams throwing gas, gas. Is that what modern baseball has become?

BRIAN SNITKER: It sure has. Every time that bullpen door swings open, it's velocity. It's amazing, really, with all these guys with the high velocity. A lot of the bullpen pieces, they have a pitch that they can throw and they get a lot of swing-and-miss. And you see, especially coming out of the bullpens, it's a lot of velocity.

Q. Could you have imagined that when you started?

BRIAN SNITKER: The guys, they weren't like that. The closers weren't throwing like they are now. But it's kind of the way they are growing up and now they are trained, and you know, it's amazing to me, the number of them, too. It's like they just keep coming. And you see organizations and you play teams and it's like, where did they get that guy and where did they get this guy? I'm always on the baseball reference or whatever looking to see where these guys come from because it's kind of interesting.

Q. Were you surprised, maybe, that Kershaw was not as uptight as he usually is going into a start; that he was maybe a little more relaxed tonight?

BRIAN SNITKER: I don't know, that's the first time I've ever been in the dugout with him for a start. He seemed really excited about making this start. I think he was in a really good place. I was excited to see him make this start. Wasn't disappointed, either. That was really cool, I thought, the reception that he got, and the fact that he started this All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium is outstanding. As I've gotten to know him more, I'm even more happy that he got to do that for the person.

Q. Was that pretty cool, I think it was the sixth, when you got to put in Dansby, Riley, and Travis?

BRIAN SNITKER: It was awesome. It was awesome. Just having them guys here with us, you know, very proud. Kind of like a proud father, I guess, because it was really neat to get them in there.

Q. How much did you know about Tony Gonsolin coming in today and how much consideration did you give him?

BRIAN SNITKER: I did, and you look at the numbers and where he was, you look at the stat sheet and the year that he's having. And as I said before, when I named Clayton, there was three or four guys that credentially could have started this game, and it would have been a good choice by me. I just felt the right thing to do, or you know, in my gut, Clayton was the guy.

But Tony deserved the start tonight as much as anybody else.

Q. What was it like in the dugout in the first inning where Ohtani says, I'm looking for the first swing, first pitch, first pitch, he hits for a single and then he's picked off.

BRIAN SNITKER: There was a lot of energy in the dugout. I was kind of surprised how the guys were into it. The energy coming out of the dugout was good all night. It was fun. All the players made it fun for all of us with their energy and into the game and excited about playing, and we had a lot of first-time All-Stars. You know, the fact that we got to watch Albert get an at-bat and be with him the whole last couple of days was cool. And it was neat, you know, left-on-left ambush.

Q. You have a nice mix of veterans and youth on your team but when you look at this game, the youth of baseball and where it's going, it's heading in a positive direction, isn't it?

BRIAN SNITKER: I look at it, and it's in a good place. I mean, it's going to be exciting for a lot, a lot of years. Because you know, you see the Rodriguez kid that that's the first time I had seen him in person, and just a lot of the young talent. And there's some that weren't even here that are injured that didn't make the trip, and so baseball is going to be exciting for a long time.

Q. Just to have Albert and Miguel on the same field for probably one last time?

BRIAN SNITKER: I applaud Major League Baseball for doing that. I thought that was outstanding, and they couldn't have picked two better guys, either. I thought that was a really cool thing when they got named, and you know, so I applaud Major League Baseball for that decision.