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Speaker 1: Welcome back to the exter Earning postgame show with Bill Laski and minored to bring a guest on. A good friend of mine. He works for the Sacramento river Cats, going nine years with the river Cats and starting his tenth year with the San Francisco Giants. Let's bring in Hobert, Cabra Hobert. How are you today?
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Speaker 2: Hi? Bill, I'm doing good. Thank you for the opportunity.
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Speaker 1: Well, the biggest thing is spring training is there? You're you're you're in Scottsdale working with a lot of new players as well as some players from the past. How's it been going.
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Speaker 2: Everything's going well.
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Speaker 3: We have a group, a great group of guys, guys.
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Speaker 2: Just getting his vision what he brings.
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Speaker 3: Uh.
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Speaker 2: We have new faces in the coaching coaching staff like Rome Washington learning from Rome as well.
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Speaker 3: I'm just you know, getting everybody to uh to put in the same in the same direction.
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Speaker 1: Well, Albert, you're you've been a fundamental coach. This is going to be your seventh year starting that with Sacramento and it really works with you benefiting on defense. And you just talked about Ron Washington adding to the staff. What a premier coach he's been What have you learned from him so far?
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Speaker 3: Well, we we wash is more about perfecting techniques.
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Speaker 2: I'm coding angles. That's the new team that we are playing with, these.
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Speaker 3: Group of guys, both of big league starteris on the backle guys and the guys that we're going to have in exact command in Lowell A.
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Speaker 2: Richmond.
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Speaker 1: Well, one of the biggest things Obert you bring is an eight year playing career. You played with Cleveland, the Dodgers, Seattle, Cincinnati. I really think that's a plus when you're teaching young players. What do you think about that?
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Speaker 3: Well, I was fortunate enough to to come up with a with a great thing like the late uh nineties early two thousand Cleveland Indians team, and I was able to to learn from from guys that are legends in the game, like Robbie Alomar.
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Speaker 2: I learned to play second base actually at the big league level.
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Speaker 3: With Robbie uh I back up my Scale at shortstop, Travis Freiman at their base. Jim Tommy was our first basem and then we have then we added David.
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Speaker 2: Sege for a couple of seasons while Jimmy.
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Speaker 3: While Jimmy was the d H you know players like Kenny love Tom. We also have many Ramires and we have David Justice. When I first come into the league and I was able to play one hundred and forty games a year, backing everybody up, I was the utility, super utility guy of the team. And that's how I started my career in big leagues. Like I said, I was fortunately, fortunately enough that I was able to learn from really good players and and hence and hence my
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game defensively in all these areas. So this makes makes the teaching now for every position that I'm that I'm trying to teach guys to learn or new changes that we might throw at them doing the season.
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Speaker 2: It made it a lot of isha because I have the experience that for.
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Speaker 1: You hearing the exter dning post game show, my good friend Obert Cabrera. Of course he's the fundamental coach again. Coming back to the Sacramento river Cats under Dave Brandige. Dave brundis going into his tenth year as a manager of the Sacramento river Cats. He said a lot of good things about you on an earlier broadcast, an earlier inter view, and it's the relationship of your coaching staff. This is the only coaching staff the Giants are bringing back where there has no changes. And when you look at what Dave Brundage is as a manager, Alan Keano as a pitching coach. P J. Peltier is the hitting coach, and you're coming back as a fundamental coach. What does that say to you guys coming back as a group once again leading a very young team and the Rivercats and and like we talked earlier, some new faces.
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Speaker 3: Well uh uh it shows the stability, you know, and stability and trust from the highers up in the organization. They believing in the warld that we've been doing. This is this will be my ninth year uh with disagreement Cats, with Brundie.
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Speaker 1: Uh.
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Speaker 2: This is my eleven.
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Speaker 3: Years with the San Francisco Giants.
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Speaker 2: It's just that you know, we we put on the we put on the war uh. Brondie.
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Speaker 3: It is really good with the players, and I'm managing the the ups and downs of being at that level with you know, all the stuff that we had to go uh through with the players going up and down, and he gave me the he allows me to do the work in the field with yours on defense, but also based running on the bench coach, but also the third base coach. I'm just working with all the guys, all the young guys like Eldress last year, you know pretty much I have to learn.
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Speaker 2: Uh at Triple A he had to to.
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Speaker 3: Play first base really where he spent the most times last year. But also the guys in Double A that had to I started the year with him likely so Nawa and Pelfrey, the man who managed the team over there. They did have a good job with the KI. But it's still, you know, as a Wogan process. Uh, it's a it's a Wogan progress with the young guys that that we have been able.
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Speaker 2: To develop to get to the big leagues. But it speaks a lot of the.
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Speaker 3: Of the continuity, the and the trought that they our guys are have put on us. And we just try to recipro km and try to do a good work.
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Speaker 2: Well.
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Speaker 1: The biggest thing over is trust. It's friendship. It's how you talk to these guys, how you bring your expertise and making them better. One of the players that you worked out really hard was Elliott Ramos. Elliott is more like a son to you. You guys talk all the time. He has been very close to you all through the minor leagues. What have you seen in him and what have you seen him getting better at each year?
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Speaker 3: Well, definitely it's getting more mature.
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Speaker 2: He's maturing at the big league level. Also have Sala now.
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Speaker 3: You know when when when he came up, we didn't have as many as established Latino Bigley players for the San Francisco Giants, but we have brought up a Damis Devors. Now we got to Louise a Rise so that all guy is gonna help with his development because he's still developing. He's still development even though he already make a a always start game and all start team all the start game, he's still developing. He's young enough, but he's also for me, that's one of the things that you don't want your younger guys to have a ceiling.
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Speaker 2: He doesn't have a ceiling right now. He's still growing.
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Speaker 3: He's still in the game, but hopefully he will continue to to put good numbers for us.
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Speaker 1: Albert Caberr joining me on the extra in post game show. You do more than just being a coach. You do a lot of mindset. You talk about the mental part of the game. You're kind of like a psychologist. You're doing the ups and downs. You're trying to keep the mood at a balanced state. How do you do that? Obart, Because there's guys that come in every day. There's some moody guys, there's some happy guys, there's guys that have energy. But you got to balance it all out. How do you do that as a coach?
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Speaker 2: Well? Uh, Like I say, Brondie allows me to do all these things.
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Speaker 3: I usually I'm walking in the clubhouse a lot while he's in the phone with the with without General Money, with a president, with our minor league director, you know.
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Speaker 2: Having hard conversations with these people.
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Speaker 3: While I'm doing the dairy work behind behind closed doors. You know, I'm going and I'm feeling the what is going on in the in the clubhouse, how guys are acting, Especially when guys get sent down. They hear stuff that they don't want to hear. They they send down and they they need to learn a new position or stuff like that.
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Speaker 2: You know that. I pray for twenty two years. I pray and a half in the big leagues.
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Speaker 3: I went to your time, I came back to the big leagues, and I spend some time, you know, in triple A at times.
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Speaker 2: So that experience alone helps a lot.
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Speaker 3: You know, I'm pros give you the veracity and the trust. You know, those those young prayers, they can see themselves on you.
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Speaker 2: So usually I go, hey, is I can't do Is I did that? You way better than I that I was. You can do it.
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Speaker 3: It's just you know, a matter of time. You just don't got to manage the way the team, you know, baseball goes. Sometimes just
when you don'n here, you just try to get better. You try to get better right here. You numbers really don't count. It's what you do in the field to get better. But when you go to the bigleague the next time, you stay there longer.
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Speaker 1: Oh you know, but the biggest thing in baseball. I was a big league pitcher, you were an infielder and outfield it's repetition. How many times you catch that ball it's a backhand, how many times you come in and feel that that ball that's short to you, the bare hands, all different things that happen before the game starts, all the early work. How do you teach this and repetition thoughts about these guys where its just comes natural.
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Speaker 2: Well, it's it's it really helps help.
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Speaker 3: Me a lot that I that I got a guy now like like Rown Waters that he's in the with the Big Lea Club now at home, but once they leave for the on the road, he comes down to and helped me.
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Speaker 2: Out in triple A.
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Speaker 3: You know, with all the experience that he has all that knowledge, it's easy for me to do the work with the infielders and stuff that because it's kind of like he brings whatever he's hearing in the big lead in the meetings and whatever. Then we we know what we need to focus on and who who we might be, who we might be sending up if something come up. So we have ideas just like that because wrong is there in the field and in the in the dog out with with the Bigley Club.
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Speaker 2: That helps a lot.
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Speaker 3: But when it comes to to repetition and all that kind of stuff that that we're trying to to teach, what we're trying to teach really it's just routines, right, So like once you establish your routine, we and they know what to expect from me. They chow to a ball park, they know their schedule, they know what time they got to be outside to do some kind of work with me. Then their ability will take care of the rest during the game.
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Speaker 1: Right.
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Speaker 2: So that's that's.
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Speaker 3: Pretty knows what we're trying to accomplish here and and so far.
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Speaker 2: I feel like we had done that. That's what that was the idea.
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Speaker 3: One day I was first saying to to people lay because we were our players didn't seem to be as radio or prepare.
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Speaker 2: Before I got there. And I'm like I said, I and was doing my part.
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Speaker 3: I'm just passing the knowledge that I was given to me for by some some people, A lot of people put.
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Speaker 2: A lot of time and a lot of and through a lot of stuff on me. And now I'm just trying to pass a little bit to the to all players. Over.
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Speaker 1: As we've finished up here, we got to talk about your family. Your dad, Obert Junior, your senior, signed Edgar renter Rea as a scout. He was a scout uh in Colombia where you guys grew up. Cartagena, Colombia is where you were born. And then your brother Orlando was a two time goal Glove winner, a two thousand and four Worlds is champion Baseball in your family is blood? Tell me a little bit about your dad and your younger brother.
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Speaker 2: Well, definitely that was always involving baseball.
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Speaker 3: But then the Colombian Professional League in the winter. We we were able to bring some really good players back then, and teams have affiliations with some of the some of the organizations share in the States. But then Mary Martinez was the manager for one of the teams, so for the teams and my dad becoming really good friends with Marry Maria at the time was there. It was the infra coordinator for the Seattle Mariners. So this is just you're gonna fast forward.
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Speaker 2: That.
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Speaker 3: So that used to come to Tempe for spring training. I was I was about fourteen, Orlando was twelve, but we were playing little laid back in Colombia. So one of the funniest stories, I'm one of the most. Like baseball is such a complex sport, but it's also a big family and his stories history and stories around baseball, they always seem to get together.
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Speaker 2: Or connected somehow.
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Speaker 3: My dad as this young short stuff of the Seattle Mariners, supposed to be it was a really great prospect. Was in the Birds to go to a Big leagues named Omar b Scale for a glove for his fourteen year old sold that was gonna start playing short stop.
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Speaker 2: Fast forward, I.
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Speaker 3: Made my debut with the Indians, and I spent him on the next four years on the Roma B scale and our locker rooms, our lockers are right next to each other for the last next four ye years. So I would say, year, my two and a half years in the big leagues, my day is coming to town. So I know, once almost see him, he's gonna he's gonna recognize him.
00:15:15
Speaker 2: So I'm gonna have to count him.
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Speaker 3: So we having we haven't drinks one night and I thought, oh, hey, you know, I wanna thank you, thank you for sending that glove to me.
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Speaker 2: And he goes, what are you talking about? Said, do you remember this? And this? And so I told him the story and we both started crying. It was it was an ambulial moment. I'll never forget that.
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Speaker 1: Oh that's a great story. Oh thank you so much for your time, great memories, and and like I said, your family is rich in baseball. I'll definitely get to Sacramento and see you again this year. But again, thank you so much for your time and again continued luck. In spring training. You got a lot of work ahead of you.
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Speaker 3: Well, thank you again again, bill uh you know what what I is for what I'm seeing a few of both the Giants and the Sacrament of Rivercas We're going to have really really good seasons this year. We have a bunch of younger guys, yes, but at the same time we're going to have the way everything is looking right now, I think we're going to have a solid boop and a solid pitching staff in triple A that helps a lot, and hopefully everybody stay healthy this year and we can both make a round for the playoffs.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I really agree. I think health is the big word and in every part of the Giants organization. Hopebard again, thank you so much. That was Hlbert Cabrera on the Extraining post game show. More coming up right here on K and BR The Sports later