Bryan Cranston's ASG starter picks? Ohtani & Kershaw

On Friday night in the Hollywood Hills, MLB hosted an Apple TV+ watch party at the All-Star House, a hub for creators, celebrities, and influencers that will host events all weekend. We caught up with Bryan Cranston -- a six-time Emmy winner, the co-founder of Dos Hombres Mezcal and a diehard baseball fan who plays in the All-Star Celebrity Softball Game on Saturday -- to talk about his love of the Dodgers, Minor League games and who should be the starting pitchers in this year’s Midsummer Classic.

How did you grow to love baseball?

There was something about being in a crowd of people all cheering that was uplifting, and it was a game that I was kind of beginning to understand. I was 6 years old in 1961 at the [Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum]. Dodger Stadium was being built at the time. It opened in 1962, but in 1961, at 6 years old, I went to the LA Coliseum with my dad and my brother and we watched a Dodgers game. The Coliseum was not made for baseball. It’s a football and track and field stadium. The dimensions were almost like the Green Monster in Fenway -- where that left-field wall is so close, so they built it really high. Same thing in the Coliseum. Left field is so close, so they put up a 40-foot net. You’d hit the net, and it’s live!

There was a ballplayer on the Dodgers, an outfielder, left-handed, named Wally Moon. And Wally Moon would adapt to what was being thrown to him. The center field and right field were huge. It was a hitter’s ballpark. There was no way a center fielder or a right fielder could cover all that ground. So, they’d smack it out there and they’d run for hours. They had a lot of inside-the-park home runs. They would just crush it. So, for left-handed batters especially, they would pitch them outside so they wouldn’t be able to pull it to center field or to right field. Wally Moon learned to take that disadvantage, and like a golf chip shot, he used to uppercut the ball as it came on the outside and he’d hit it up and over the net. It was basically a chip shot.

He’d hit it up and over so many times that Vin Scully, who was announcing back then -- I remember hearing him since I was 5 years old -- he would call them "Moonshots." I named my production company “Moonshot” because of that. It represented to me taking something, a problem, and figuring out a solution. That’s what they had to do. Wally Moon had to figure out, ‘They’re pitching me outside. Let me see if I can just kind of uppercut that swing,’ and he started getting really good at it.

Who were some of your favorite players growing up, and who do you love watching now?

I love the players who still play hard. I grew up in the '70s. You’re watching Pete Rose re-establish what it meant to play hard. Before him, there wasn’t a player that would do anything to get on base and anything to score a run. He was so competitive. Yeah, he had other issues and problems along the way, but that doesn’t detract from his ability on the field.

I love players back in the day -- Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax. I was too young to see Jackie Robinson, but I love the players that get dirty, the ones that really hustle. I have a problem with people not running out a ball, I have a problem with people not hustling. I guess it’s kind of old school, but I love it when I see the hustle.

Today, players like Chris Taylor on the Dodgers who, if he’s going to play, his uniform is never going to be clean. I love that. I just love that energy, that guts and determination. There’s a lot of players like that. I just hope when ballplayers get up to the Major Leagues, if they can, [that they keep realizing] they’re there. They’re living their dream. Now is not the time to relax. Now’s the time to push even further because it’s what is expected of them, and that’s what the fans expect.

You mentioned Jackie. I assume he’s one of many guys you wish you had the opportunity to see. If you had a time machine and can watch any player or players, who would they be?

Well, it would be Jackie Robinson when he came up with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 40s. I would love to see that. Of course, to travel up to the Bronx and see Babe Ruth in the 20s and 30s, and to be able to see him in his prime, and Lou Gehrig and all those players.

But we have our own now. That’s why I love going to Minor League games. When I was doing Breaking Bad, I would go to the Triple-A club [in Albuquerque, N.M.], which was called the Isotopes. At the time, they were a Dodger affiliate when Breaking Bad was going on. I would go to the games all the time. I made friends with the general manager there, and he said, ‘Just come in anytime.’

I sometimes would get off work, and I would just drive to the stadium. It might be the seventh inning, and it wouldn’t matter. I’ll see two innings of baseball. And that’s really at its purest, because every single one of those people that’s on that field is hoping for the chance to live their dream. That’s what they want. That’s why they’re there. And even the players who are in the Majors who are rehabbing, they’re hoping to get back. There is a tremendous amount of desire, and it’s just feels like a different game. The stadiums are much smaller, so you’re more intimate. You can hear the ballplayers talking when they’re upset from a call, or when they’re happy. It’s really fun.

The Dodgers are in the midst of another great season. What do you think about their roster as the Trade Deadline approaches? Do they need to add a bat or an arm?

We’re in very good shape. We’re 9 1/2 games above San Diego. That’s surprising to me at the All-Star break. I didn’t think we would be in that good of shape, especially because we have a lot of people on the injured list. What I really hope is that we get people back from the IL. If we can just get healthy, we have a hell of a team, but we’re having some issues getting healthy. That’s the X-factor of every team -- you don’t know [who might get injured]. You just hope you can get everybody back. That’s my wish. Maybe we can get everybody back. That would be great. Aside from that, if we can get people back, I don’t think we need much. The level of play over the last few weeks has risen. The level of energy has risen. It’s been really fun to watch. I think we just have to stay that course and get people back.

Should West Coast pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Shohei Ohtani start the All-Star Game?

Yes! To me, this is an exhibition game. This is a game to honor exceptional players in the first half of the year. And it’s a game for the fans. We were talking about a time machine, going back, being able to see. Well, there are kids right now who have that opportunity to look if they can go to an All-Star Game, and they see all the best players on the field at all times. That’s a unique opportunity for a baseball fan, and a kid now, at 8 or 9 years old or whatever, could, when they’re an adult, say, ‘I saw so-and-so. He signed this for me.’

So it’s for the fans, and it’s to honor really excellent, excellent play. I think it should be Kershaw and Ohtani. We should have the two local teams represented. And, by the way, they’re worthy of it. Look what they’re doing. It’s not like you’re throwing them a bone and they didn’t really deserve it.

Tickets are now on sale for all the 2022 All-Star Week events. Visit allstargame.com/tickets to find out how you can attend the events in person.