This past week there has been a renewal of negative comments about Dodger manager, Dave Roberts. Some warranted, but most not. AC provided a wonderful up close and personal synopsis yesterday when he shared his son’s feelings about DR being “one of the most genuine people he ever met. He could talk you up and fill you with positive thought all day long.” This seems to be the consensus industry-wide. But who is this man?
When, surprisingly, hired by the Dodgers in 2015, Andrew Friedman had this to say about him: “We’re extremely excited to bring Dave Roberts on board as the next manager of the Dodgers. We could not have been more impressed with him through this process. His energy is infectious and he has the rare ability to make a genuine connection with every person he comes across. He has developed strong leadership qualities and accumulated a breadth of baseball experience over his career as both a player and coach. He is a “baseball man” and “people person” in the truest sense of those words.” Apparently, for some, that is “code speak” for” “Dave Roberts is a robotic puppet, with zero personality, who will do the front office’s bidding at every turn.” Sorry, but I’m not buying that.
It might come to a surprise to some on this board, but one of Roberts’ biggest supporters was none other than Adrian Gonzalez The LA Times reported that Gonzalez raved about “Roberts’ energy and optimism, his singular blend of savvy and positivity.” Gonzalez also Gonzalez vouched for Roberts with his teammates and helped established a new culture in 2016. According to Gonzalez, “Roberts was always free‑spirited, always laughing, always happy, always there for you.” It appears that Gonzalez would know, because he, Roberts and Chris Young shared a house together in 2010, while with the Padres. That year Young developed arm problems requiring surgery, Roberts was diagnosed with Hodgkins’ lymphoma and Gonzalez and his wife were struggling with the ability to have much-desired children. Roberts maintained his optimism. “We got this,” he told them. Roberts beat cancer, Young bounced back from the arm surgery and Gonzalez and his wife were later able to have two daughters. They all remain very close friends.
Roberts was born in Naha, Okinawa in 1972. His father, Waymon Thomas, was an African-American Marine, and on March 18, 2017 Mark posted a very nice tribute to him). His mother, Eiko, was Japanese. I spent some time on Okinawa, as a Marine in 1973-1974, at Camp Hansen, about an hour north of Naha. I can tell you that Okinawa was not the most optimum place to start or raise a family. During my time there, USA military men, particularly Marines, were not well looked upon, for a number of different reasons. One thing I can easily surmise is that Master Gunnery Sergeant “Top” Thomas raised his son in a very disciplined environment. Such was the Marine Corps way.
Ultimately his family settled in San Diego, where Roberts went on to become a high school standout in football, basketball, and baseball. As the starting quarterback, he led his team to a San Diego Section Class 3A championship. He received a scholarship offer to play football at the Air Force Academy. He turned that down and, instead chose to walk-on at UCLA for their baseball team.
Off the field, he helped his high school coach, Butch Smith, in his landscape company, and with his baseball academy, Prime Time Sports Academy. While working with Smith, Roberts met Duke Snider, who was sending his 2 sons to the academy. Duke Snider loved Roberts and became one of his most ardent fans. I suspect, that if the Duke were still alive, he would be very happy that Roberts is managing the Dodgers. Butch Smith had this to say about Roberts: “I’ve coached for 40 years, and the only way you can win at any level is you have to have that leader that’s on the field. That’s what David did for me. I never had anybody like him before or since. He was just magnetic. People are just drawn to him.”
At UCLA, Roberts hit .331 as a sophomore at UCLA, .296 as a junior and .353 as a senior. He stole 36, 28 and 45 bases, respectively. After his junior year, he was drafted in the 47th round by the Indians. The primary knock on him was his defense. Apparently, he had an arm borrowed from Juan Pierre. The Tigers drafted Roberts in the 28th round after his senior year of 1994. He signed for a $1,000 bonus. Roberts went on to have a fine major league career. Roberts summed up his playing career as follows: “Don’t ever lose that confidence and out‑work people. For me, I was a person that played with a lot of people that were a lot more talented than I was, but I just took pride in outworking them and being educated as far as understanding the game and playing the game hard and the right way.”
In 1998, Roberts and Tim Worrell were traded to the Cleveland Indians for Gerónimo Berroa. Roberts played with Los Cañeros de Los Mochis in the Mexican Pacific League in 1998‑99 before wearing the uniform of the Caguas Criollos in Puerto Rico, where he played with Alex Cora and had Joey Cora as general manager.
On December 22, 2001, Roberts was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for minor league pitchers Christian Bridenbaugh and Nial Hughes in one of those trades that went completely under the radar. The 2002 season with the Dodgers was Roberts’ first full season on a major league roster and he was the Dodgers leadoff hitter and starting centerfielder. He finished the season with a .277 batting average in 127 games with 45 stolen bases. In 2003, Roberts appeared in only 107 games due to neck and hamstring injuries and hit .250 while stealing 40 bases. He was the 10th Dodgers player in history with consecutive 40‑steal seasons and committed his first career error on April 22 against the Cincinnati Reds, snapping a streak of 406 attempts without an error. He began the 2004 campaign with the Dodgers and hit .253 in 68 games with 33 steals despite missing most of May with a strained hamstring. In 2004 he was traded to the RedSox for the immortal Henri Stanley. Roberts is most remembered for his stolen base and run scored in game 4 of the ALCS against NY. The Redsox were able to rally back for the victory which spurred them on to their first WS victory since 1918. In 2006, this stolen base was recognized as a Memorable Moment in Red Sox history by the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame. Roberts is revered in Boston!!
Roberts was hired as manager by the Dodgers beating out 8 other candidates (primarily Gabe Kapler). The Dodgers have gone to the playoffs all three years he’s been in charge, and appear headed to a fourth straight year. That’s something that even the legendary Tommy Lasorda wasn’t able to accomplish (this is not a knock on Tommy, as I loved him), with a lineup that included the great, Garvey, Lopes, Russell, Cey, Smith, Baker, Yeager and a starting staff of Sutcliffe, Sutton, Reuss, Messersmith and Hooten.
The knock-on Roberts is that he is a front office puppet. I don’t buy that for a minute, particularly given his history. Granted it does appear that he does work well with the front office. However, that alone does not make him a puppet. I have never understood collaboration as being a negative trait. Roberts has proven himself, over and over again, that he’s a grinder that never gives up, and he is a baseball guy in the truest sense of the word.
Another knock is that he sometimes makes odd in-game decisions. This argument is usually brought out after a Dodger loss and very rarely is said about him after a victory. Disagreeing with a manager will always happen. While I certainly don’t agree with every move he makes, he certainly isn’t near as bad as Joe Torre (who I think was one of the most overrated managers of all time and proved every bit of that opinion while with the Dodgers), or Don Mattingly. You should spend some time on the Cub’s blogs and see how they feel about Joe Madden (who I personally think is a great manager). He is constantly lambasted by the fans. My middle son, who is a die-hard Cubbie fan(I seriously think he was switched at birth :-)), has been excruciatingly frustrated by Madden’s in-game decisions. Pretty much every team’s fans have the same frustrating experience. Last year, Alex Cora was a great manager. This year, a little less so. Additionally, Roberts is supported by some of the finest coaches in the game. It’s clear that he leans heavily on them throughout a game and they help him do his job. Once again, it’s a collaborative effort.
Baseball has certainly changed over the years. Front offices hare more openly involved than in the past and have taken more control of some of the things managers used to do. Managers, coaches, and players are provided with much more information with which to work. Managers have the responsibility of dealing with players and dealing with the media. Dave Roberts handles those two areas as well as anybody. His players love him. If you ever get the chance to watch batting practice or go to spring training, watch Roberts. He wanders all around the field and does his best to connect, in a meaningful hands-on way, with each player. In fact, there are many who believe that Roberts saved Yasiel Puig’s career. After 2015, Puig was clearly on bad terms with Don Mattingly and was quickly becoming a part‑time player. Roberts (and Turner Ward) worked diligently with Puig, showing him a combination of tough love and encouragement. In 2017 and 2018 he became a productive player again despite some serious issues.
I’m not a Dave Roberts apologist. From my view on the recliner, there are several times I find areas of disagreement with Dave Roberts, but never as a person. I genuinely think that he’s the right person to lead the Dodgers to a World Series. I also hope that he manages the Dodgers for many years to come. I sincerely believe that someday in the future, Dodger fans will be looking back, so very glad to have experienced the Doc Robert’s era. I, for one, am very happy to enjoy this era in real-time.
Minor League Report
OKC Dodgers lost to the Reno Aces: 10-2
much to see here. Not much to see here. Newly acquired Jose Lobaton hit a HR. Kyle Garlick hit a double -pretty and that was pretty much it offensively. Tyler Thornburg and Josh Sbors had good outings in relief. Justin De Fratus and Dennis Santana both had forgettable outings.
Tulsa Drillers lost to the NW Arkansas Naturals: 3-2
Leo Crawford starte and tossed a nice 5 innings, allowing 1 unearned run, 5 hits, and 2 walks. He added 5 Ks. Yordy Cabrera pitched the next 2 innings allowing 1 run on 1 hits and 1 walk. He had 1 K. The late relievers, Jordan Sheffield and Luis Vasquez could not hold the lead as Sheffield gave up a run on 2 walks in 0.2 innings and Vasquez, allowed an inherited runner to score in walk off fashion. The Drillers did pound out 12 hits, 2 each by Errol Robinson, Donovan Casey, Conner Wong, Eric Peterson and Jared Walker. Omar Estevez got the only RBI.
RC Quakes beat the Stockton Ports: 10- 1
Starter Michael Grove gave Rancho three scoreless innings before Jose Martinez (1‑0), making his Cal League debut, came on and tossed 5 innings of shutout baseball, holding Stockton to just four hits on the night. The Ports got their lone run in the ninth off Brandon Montgomery.
Offensively, the Quakes were led by Jordan Procyshen slugged a pair of home runs. Jacob Amaya had a two‑run single. Dillon Paulson, who had two hits, chipped in with a two‑run single as well. Downs finished with four hits on the night, including three doubles. Miguel Vargas also added a double.
Great Lake Loons beat the Bowling Green Hot Rods: 7-4
Offensively, James Outman hit a grand slam. Romer Cuadrado added a solo homer. While Matt Cogan and Jair Camargo each contributed a hit and RBI. Justin Hagenman started and pitched 4 innings and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and 1BB. He struck out 2. He was followed by Edward Cuello, Jasiel Alvino and Joel Inoa who each did well. Alvino did allow the other run.
Ogden Raptors lost to the Idaho Falls Chukars: 13-9
The Raptors played a sloppy defensive game committing 5
errors, which led to 5 unearned runs.
Offensively, the Raptors were led by Aldrich De Jongh, Cesar Mendoz who hit each hit a HR. Andy Pages had a double, as did Marco Hernandez and Jorbit Vivas. De Jongh, Hernandez & Vivas each had 2 hits. Things did not go well for the Raptor pitchers. Kevin Malisheski had a rare poor outing as he got raked for 6 hits and 5 runs in 3.1 innings. He was followed by Nelfri Contreras who was touched for 4 hits and 5 unearned runs in 1.2 innings. Jacob Cantleberry followed with 2 scoreless innings, Then came Hunter Speer who was roughed up for 3 hits and 3 runs in his 0.2 inning. Reza Alezeaz finished the game with 1.1 innings of scoreless ball. and allowed a run on 2 hits.
AZL Mota Lost to the AZL Oakland Gold: 6-5
AZL Lasorda beat the AZL Giants Black: 4-0
Well done and interesting. There are times where I would have played the guy with a sore knee instead of the guy Doc put in the lineup because I didn’t know he had a sore knee.
Very nice post 2demeter2,my view on Roberts is a very good communicator ,a players manager who has the respect of his team and the front office but I think he is only an average game day manager. That is my negative on Roberts but saying that and also thinking Madden is a great manager I think Madden would not do as well with the Dodgers as Roberts has.
IMO, Dave Roberts is the perfect man to manage the Dodgers in the current environment. Hard to argue otherwise when he has a .603 winning percentage in 607 Dodgers games managed; a pace that is well ahead of HOF’ers Walt Alston (.558) and Tommy Lasorda (.526). Of course, both Alston and Lasorda had to manage several seasons with really bad teams, something that Roberts is unlikely to face as long as Gugenheim Baseball Management owns the team, and Andrew Friedman is in charge of baseball operations.
Awesome write up. Thank You
Sorry if this has already been mentioned but Doc’s leadership must also be highlighted with the way he has handled the many and varied ego’s of ML baseball players. He has kept a close clubhouse despite transitioning out Adrian Gonzalez, the trade of a very popular AJ Ellis, the bloated contracts of Carl Crawford, Matt Kemp and the head case that is Yasiel Puig.
All, or just one of those players, if not handled deftly could have caused the clubhouse to fracture with the resulting chaos playing itself out on the field. Instead, Doc has consistently fielded teams with players that appear close and who battle for each other everyday. That’s leadership!
With one 100 win season already under his belt and another quite possibly happening this year (assuming there is no 1-16 skid) it is his time to win it all. I love Doc as our manager and I have the highest degree of confidence he will deliver the goods this year. WS win or bust!
I think this will help Roberts manage the bullpen in the playoffs. You have to keep Garcia in the playoff bullpen to close out games with a 2 run lead or greater because we know that he will only give up a solo home run in his inning. Unlike Jansen who can give up a two run jack or even a grand slam. I’m using my analytics here!
Just saw this on MLB Trade rumors
In terms of the postseason rotation, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Walker Buehler, and Clayton Kershaw is an awfully enviable top three, though as Moura notes, the battle for the fourth starter’s job is up for grabs. Kenta Maeda, Dustin May, Julio Urias, and Tony Gonsolin are all candidates, or Moura says the club could pick more than one of these arms in “a piggy-back combination.” With a big lead in the NL West, L.A. has plenty of time to experiment for the remainder of the regular season.
Urias was pitching out of the pen to limit his innings early in the season. August was implied as the time he might be turned loose to pitch in the rotation.
Obviously there is information we are not privy to but it seems like giving Urias a shot would be prudent. If he pitching well and wins the spot, that is good. Good for the team as he would be pitching well. Good for Urias as he has been in limbo for 2 – 3 years between his innings limit due to age, then the injury and subsequent rehab innings limit.
The Dodgers are very good at giving players every opportunity to earn their spot. No one can complain they weren’t given a shot. We complain as it seems to go on even when we think the Dodgers should move on. From a player perspective though it is a good thing
I know May is the flavor of the month with Gonsolin a close second but Urias has playoff experience and is touted to be a pretty good pitcher.
100% agree. Urias should be given every shot to be the #4 starter. However, the front office needs to decide that very soon, and now tinker around for another 4-5 weeks.
If Urias is to start for the rest of the year and into October, then let him build up now. If he’s to relieve for the rest of the year and into October, then get him used to going back to back days and 2 of 3 days. We can’t have a dude who’s basically only available every 4 days in October. Get him used to the workload now.
I was under the impression that the FO decided that Urias was going to be finishing the season in the BP. I believe it was publicly announced by Doc recently.
IIRC, yes Doc implied this but at that time he was also talking of Rich Hill being back in time to be in the rotation. He did say clearly that Urias would be in the rotation next year with the implication he would remain in the BP this year.
The old saying “no battle plan survives contact with the enemy” has some application here. When Rich Hill’s status changed to not being ready to start in the playoffs, that may change previously stated plans. I don’t think Urias should be handed the 4th starter spot for the playoffs, but he should be in the consideration unless there are things behind the scenes we don’t know about.
Good job 2D2. You are a very talented writer. I enjoyed reading this with my morning coffee. I respect Doc very much for what he does in guiding the young men he is in charge of to greater heights and believing in themselves because he believes in them. Is he perfect? No, but then who is? I hope he is a long-time Dodger manager.
I think I have been clear that I am a Doc supporter, but by no means do I think he is perfect. As DBM said. nobody is. I would prefer that he not try to outsmart the opponent and rather let his superior talented players outperform their opponents. While I beleive that he has improved in this aspect, he still has a ways to go. I agree with 2D2 that Doc is not a puppet, but he was hired because of his beliefs in the new metrics being consumed by Dodger management. That does not make him a bad manager, but one to lead the team in the direction that ownership/FO management want the team to go. Is that really any different than any other company? Large or small? A board (or partners or single owner) decides strategy and management executes it. That also does not mean that management has to be all “yes” people. If anyone has been in any of the meetings with AF and Doc/Coaches please enlighten us as to how much of “yes” people Doc and his coaches truly are. Not with innuendo, but with evidence.
My guess is as accomplished as Mark Walters, Stan Kasten, and AF are, they do surround themselves with a team that is not afraid to voice disagreement, but will absolutely come together as cohesive unit for the public. That is what we see. But for those who want to place blame for every single loss on someone other than the players themselves, then that cannot be remedied.
There is no doubt that Roberts handles the clubhouse very well. I do not think that he is a particularly good in-game manager, however. The decisions during the last two World Series were more than questionable.. I realize that managers are always second-guessed, but that doesn’t automatically make the criticisms foolish. I don’t even remember all the decisions, but they include taking Hill out twice when he was pitching a great game, to leave it up to the erratic bullpen. Starting Darvish instead of Kershaw in Game 7, and then when the game was essentially over, putting in Kershaw to pitch four innings, was embarrassing. You’ve got a HOF pitcher who really wants the ball to make up for this meltdown in Game 5, and he can go four innings, but you start someone who was shellacked in his first Series start, and who was hammered by Houston in the regular season, leading people to think that they could read his pitches. And then he leaves Darvish in to the point that the game is very likely already lost. Last year, he screwed up the bullpen choices again. There were a few other things, like use of the bench, outmaneuvering himself so that he had the wrong lineup at the end of the game. I cannot remember all the details. though I and many others thought then that they were rather obvious at the time. I do know that in both years, there was a lot of criticism of Roberts’ moves from national writers, not just upset Dodgers fans, and that is pretty rare. But somehow much of that gets forgotten after the season. I think that there are Yankees fans, Red Sox fans, who hold onto such things for decades, whereas in sunny L.A., the fans get upset at the time, and then just let it go. That’s their choice, but it doesn’t make the manager better.
I do think that the Dodgers’ fans are much kinder than fans of most other baseball franchises. I never thought that Lasorda was a good game manager at all, but he is beloved here. Lasorda was so eager to score runs at any time, that he often depleted his entire roster by the ninth inning. And he was about .500 in his last ten seasons here. He did do a great job in 1988,, but there were and are better managers. The Dodgers fans have this admirable loyalty to players and managers, but the flip side of it is that we don’t demand greatness very often. I would agree that there are managers who would not do nearly as good a job as Roberts in handling the various personalities on a club, or in handling himself with dignity. But there are also managers (Bochy, LaRussa, Francona, Madden, very possibly Aaron Boone, maybe Hinch, come to mind) who either are clearly better, or look to be). Unless we just attribute everything to rolls of the dice, which is silly, there is a clear reason, and not just longevity, why Bochy and LaRussa have won three championships. And the goal is to win the titles, not to make a nice showing each year. So being “a good manager” doesn’t mean enough by itself., since all of sports is a competition to the top.. Like Alston and Lasorda, Roberts is likely to be here for 20 years, as the Dodgers’ owners usually like stability. I think that there will always be at least three or four managers who are better than Roberts, which is a problem, if any of them have comparable or better talent in a given year. It would be nice for the Dodgers to actually have the best manager in baseball, but that probably has not been the case since Durocher, who had different drawbacks, but who was considered a master at managing a game. I do think that Alston was better than many have thought; he seemed to often make good decisions in terms of using his bench or bullpen; the obvious exception was not using Drysdale in the ninth inning of the third playoff game in the nightmare ending of the 1962 season. Otherwise, we have valued familiarity over greatness, which is likely why we have no titles in 31 years, and only two in 53 years, one of which, as pointed out yesterday, occurred because of the anomaly of a long baseball strike.
I don’t like long paragraphs and tend to skim them. Break them up please.
LOL
Well, to be honest, I don’t even skim long paragraphs
William – I don’t necessarily think that DOC is the best in game strategist. Though I’m not sure to whom I would give that title. Each of the managers you named have flaws (just check out their fan blogs). It’s one of the rights we have as fans to question things we disagree with. I do it all the time. But, I do acknowledge that I’m not the one in the trenches having to make the decisions in real time. I trust that DR and the others do the best they can with the information they have available to them at any particular time. Winning a World Series definitely moves you up the ladder of “great” managers. DR has had 3 cracks at it and got the Dodgers to the big dance twice, and the third time they lost to the team that won it all. That’s not a bad record for someone who has never managed before. Also, we can’t just sayy that he won because of the talent of his players. If that was the case, Dave Martinez, Mickey Callaway and Gabe kapler would be much more successful than they are.
I agree that once you win a world title, you go up a good deal in estimation. And maybe that is not fair, either, as there have been some managers who won a title or two, who were still derogated by an overly demanding fan base. Joe Torre won five, and there are plenty of Yankees fans who were thrilled to see him leave; then they got Girardi, and he won one, and they didn’t like him a bit, either. So obviously there will be differences of opinion about managers. Even so, I do think that there are empirical and intuitive criteria to differentiate among some of them.
I thought that Mattingly was a terrible manager here, and he managed to win three straight division titles, because of the talent. Roberts has won four now, and certainly has done better in the playoffs than Mattingly. If we win the title this year, Roberts deserves a good deal of credit. I don’t exactly blame him for the WS losses, but I did not think he maximized our chances, as the best managers, like Bochy and previously LaRussa, maybe Francona, have done. The best a manager can do with regard to strategy, is to at least put his team in the best position to win, and more often than not, pull the right card (player or playcall) out of the deck. Some are really good at this; others, like Mattingly, seem to have the knack of picking the wrong card for the situation. I’d put Roberts somewhere in the middle of this, probably somewhat on the plus side, but not in the top range. Of course, like in all sports, you have to be better than your toughest competition, to actually come out with the title. This year, we certainly have one of the three best teams in baseball, so let’s see if we can finally win one of these. If we do win it, Roberts is going to be relatively immune from criticism for at least a few years.
An astounding number of assumptions made by William.
Wow.
I read that short paragraph. Care to provide Cliff Notes for William?
2D2 – Good stuff… You and AC are firing on all cylinders… That being said you are responsible for awakening William… I checked back on Will the Thrill’s last couple comments and it’s all the same…Maybe if we pretend we didn’t read it?!??! But now I can’t get the “Lip” out of my mind…
Minor League Update – Above
Roberts isn’t a puppet, but he is a company man. That’s a prerequisite in today’s baseball world. This is fine because baseball organizations are organizations in a truer sense of the world. You need to integrate the analytics department with the front office with the implementation of strategy at the game level, as well as the management of personalities. You can’t have a Mike Scioscia, who blatantly ignored the analytic feedback of Jerry Dipoto, and then went over his head directly to Moreno. Friedman and Roberts and the rest the coaching staff are in close contact and probably have regular meetings. Everyone not only needs to be on the same page, but understand what the respective roles are.
With that, however, I think there is unwritten pressure to follow the company policy. Although Roberts has autonomy on the field, he has to be thinking twice whether to allow Rich Hill to face the Boston lineup for the third time. The historical data, which was no doubt discussed and understood, suggests this is something to avoid, that the likelihood of the opposing lineup getting to the pitcher rises significantly when the hitters have two chances to see what the pitcher has and how he his sequencing his pitches.
Even if Robert’s eyeballs tell him that Hill is humming, he’s in a groove, his curveball has snap and he’s locating his fastball and the opposing players are still befuddled, there is extraordinary pressure not to buck policy. This is how group think and conformity work. There is pressure never to stick your neck out, to follow along, and Roberts is, by his nature, a company man. That’s not a terrible indictment. It’s what’s necessary in this baseball environment, but it is an organizational weakness, and I think a somewhat smarter, insightful and stronger willed manager would tactfully make a convincing argument to sometimes deviate from the data driven baseball mold whens the circumstances dictate.
My issue with Roberts is his dissembling in his apparent role as Dodger Press Secretary. People can sniff out canned, dishonest and vague PR answers to press questions and want more authenticity. Roberts lost all credibility with me when he announced Andre Ethier would be back in the lineup the next spring training game a few years ago. Of course he was out the year with a broken leg. Gotta control the message! If there’s one thing I hate more than anything is when people lie to me. I don’t really listen to anything he has to say anymore. He is the Dodger Spokesdrone https://youtu.be/zE1eHQ4z5W4
And, to make a contrasting argument to him as leader, maybe there is virtue, from a leadership perspective, to being more passionate and combative. Assembling all the talent in the world and buttressing it with flawless data driven strategy – of having a plan and sticking with it – is great. It ensures long term success. But when in the crucible of a seven game playoff or world series, it takes rising to the moment with a certain level of mental toughness. The players might revere Roberts, but when there is a key high pressure moment, are they tough? Do they rise to the occasion or do they wilt?
The Dodgers have had two chances to rise to the occasion in the WS. Both times they didn’t. In 2017 the players just flat out choked on several occasions. Tommy’s 88 Dodgers were underdogs, in both the NLCS and against the As in the WS, but they came through in key moments. It’s hard to quantify that in the analytics department. But having a pugnacious personality at the helm, someone who won’t even let a mascot disrespect his team, rubs off on the players.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX4L2LHGs98
I miss Drysdale, too.
I thought that this post was very interesting and well-observed. I can’t exactly recall who was coming up for Boston, and even whom we replaced Hill with. It was just that Hill is a very smart pitcher, someone who once he finds his groove, can be virtually unhittable. He also seems like what they used to call a “money pitcher,” someone who is not a superstar, but who is just going to win the big game for you. Claude Osteen was like that. Hill never has had the chance to validate that, because in two different Series, he has been taken out. Now, maybe if they had left him in, he would have faltered, and then Roberts would have been criticized for that. But I, as an armchair manager, would have left someone like that in, rather than rely on a very inconsistent bullpen against a great hitting team. You could see from Hill’s eyes how fixated and determined he was to win the game, and how stunned he was at being taken out.
Totally agree with the stupidity of taking Hill out way too early in both World Series.
There was no reason to do so aside from it being pre-planned (or in last year’s case, brainless miscommunication)
As if we needed any more reason to win the World Series this year: Dodgers open up 2020 on Thursday, March 26 at home vs SF. How amazing would it be to get our rings and raise our banners in front of them !
Now please win
Yes it would but I’m not counting my raisins before they are fully dried.
I like Dave Roberts. I was happy when the Dodgers chose him over Kapler. I’m still thankful they chose him over Kapler. I had long posts on the subject recently. I reserve the right to criticize him though when I see fit without it being a macro discussion of his overall job performance.
To me, the best I can say about Roberts is that “Thank God we didn’t wind up with Kapler.”
He’ll never be Lasorda, who won Olympic Gold with a bunch of amateurs against pros from other countries.
I’ll leave it at this. I don’t love him, and I don’t hate him. We can do better, we can do worse. I like him better than Mattingly, Torre, Little and Johnson.
I’m back from vacation in Giant country. People I spoke to aren’t thrilled with Farhan and none think they have any sort of chance at a post season run. For the most part, Posey is the only guy they would have kept through a rebuild. Most wanted to trade Bum for a return.
Fun visiting. Napa Valley is beautiful. V Satturi winery was unbelievable.
Baseball 1439 said, “my view on Roberts is a very good communicator ,a players manager who has the respect of his team and the front office but I think he is only an average game day manager. ”
I think that is right on. I spoke to him this spring and he mentioned how hard it is because so many do not want to change anything. They don’t trust sybermetrics and don’t like the influence they have had on how the Dodgers do things. The FO is sold on them and Doc is their man to run the team by them. He is doing exactly what he was hired to do, some (including those of us on this site) are having a difficult time adjusting. I suspect there was somewhat of a struggle in the FO making the change.
Great perspective and insight.
Let’s not forget that among Dodger Managers who have managed over 600 games, Dave Roberts has the highest winning percentage of any Dodger manager… ever! .603.
Now, you can say “Well look at the team he has.” OK, I’ll accept that.
Did you also know that Dave Roberts is #4 ALL-TIME in Winning Percentage among all MLB Managers and that two of the three ahead of him are in the HOF and the two right behind him are also in the HOF?
Dave Roberts may not be the best ever, but he’s right there with them.
You have no argument because HE IS!
Like I said I like Roberts. I glad he’s our guy most of the time. However, he’s only been a manager for now his 3rd year and managing a stacked team. Really the importance of things go 1) players 2) Front office/gm 3) manager. He has arguably been out managed in both World Series.
If you want to argue winning percentage, look no further than Don Mattingly. So, Don Mattingly was among the best ever, now he sucks.
Donnie sucked as a Dodger manager. He has a .551 winning %. Roberts is .603. Not even close!
After doing a lot of reading today about the Dodgers and there was a lot because I slacked off over the weekend, I read some flat out blunt talk about the postseason pitching roster and some hints about it. So here is what I have read.
Urias is going to be in the pen.
Hill is going to be in the pen if healthy.
Roberts hints he wants Stripling in the pen but has no timetable for his return.
The Dodgers are skipping May’s start after his next start on Wednesday.
Rick Honeycutt is working with Maeda to fix things with him.
Sadler was optioned because he has options and the Dodgers “want to look at other guys”.
Friedman has said there will be 12 pitchers in the postseason.
All of that above is what I have read, now here is my take:
It seems the Dodgers are not giving up on Maeda as the 4th starter in the postseason but I believe he will have a short leash with Hill following him if they even decide to go with Maeda as 4th starter. As of right now I think Maeda is the favorite for 4th starter in the postseason but that could change.
I have no idea why Roberts wants Stripling in the postseason, I’d rather leave him off the postseason roster because he’s not very good as a reliever nor a starter but better as a starter according to stats. If he’s healthy he’s in the pen, if not he’s not.
Knowing how Dave Roberts manages, he will give the lefties who are not exactly locks for the postseason (Ferguson Kolarek) every chance in the world to make the postseason roster. I would leave them both off the postseason roster because I don’t like loogies and Ferguson has been a disaster this season.
The same thing is probably going to happen with May as happened to Gonsolin, May will probably be optioned after his next start on Wednesday. But September looks bright for both guys, same goes for Sadler. But these guys are going to have to pitch extremely well in September to change what Dave Roberts has in mind.
I’m rooting for every Dodger pitcher to do well the rest of the season because they are on the team. But I prefer seeing Sadler, May, Gonsolin in the postseason over Stripling, Ferguson, Kolarek. I believe Floro, Garcia, Chargois, Alexander (I believe Alexander is done for the season) have absolutely no chance to be in the postseason.
OKC lighting it up tonight. Gonsolin was effectively wild. 5 IP 2 H 3BB 9 K’s 0 R. He also has a double. Gyorko with a dinger.
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BTW, I hate the idea of Maeda being the #4. If Hill is ready to go but not stretched out, I would rather use him as an opener through the lineup once and then hand it over to May or Goose.
You might be on to something… or on something! 😉
I guess I’ll put my 2 cents in on Dave Roberts and its pretty simple. The previous Dodgers managers have had good teams and bad teams and so far Dave Roberts has only had good teams. Also keep in mind all the information that Managers have today that managers of the past didn’t have.
I know that. All I am saying is that .603 says you ain’t a chump!
I agree Mark. Roberts doesn’t suck as a manager. I just give the players he has a lot of credit for that record. I’ve disagreed with some things Roberts has done in games but I do see him always supporting his players.
The Nats signed Greg Holland because… of course they did!
OKC scores 12 runs with Peters out.
Gyorko gets on my Post Season Bench.
Lux hit a 469 foot HR off of Ricky Nolasco tonight. I didn’t know Nolasco was still hanging on.
A quick word on Maeda. This season, he came out on fire and pitched well, until he didn’t. He melted down, once again. For me, a true starter exhibits an ability to last a complete season and hopefully, with a winning record. Maeda is truly on the edge. As I’ve said for the last few years, I see him in the BP, not because I’m convinced he can succeed there, but I don’t think he can succeed in the post season as a starter. Hill is the man that the whole shebang rests on. When he’s healthy and able to pitch, he must start. Hopefully, if it works out like this, Doc has learned his lessons and should exhibit confidence in him. If it’s a choice of Hill, and/or May/Gonsolin, I go with Hill. He’s a pro. If it’s Maeda, and/or May/Gonsolin, that is really a tough choice for anyone to make as the conventional wisdom is to not go with a rookie, especially ones with limited MLB experience as both May and Gonsolin have. This is why I was hoping that they would extend their auditions for another month to really get a full look at them. Now, it will be partly a guessing game, or going with experience. Dodgers are too slow to react to this situation for my taste. They’ve had nothing to lose by featuring May/Gonsolin, instead they are still auditioning sad sack relievers who should not be in the post season. And, they’ve refused the obvious move of bringing up Lux to plug the infield and add instant offense as they did with Smith. High risk, high reward? Not really.