PREDICTABLY, THE MORONS BLAME ROBERTS
Some Dodger fans don't want a manager. They want a magician who wins 162 games, sweeps every postseason series, and never makes a decision they can criticize in hindsight. And even then, they'd complain that he didn't win by enough!
Let me see if I have this straight.
In 2017, Dave Roberts managed the Dodgers to the World Series, where the Astros needed an elaborate cheating operation to beat them.
In 2020, Roberts won the World Series.
In 2024, Roberts won another World Series.
In 2025, Roberts won ANOTHER World Series.
That's three World Championships, four World Series appearances, and a franchise that has become the envy of baseball.
But if the Dodgers lose in 2026, will Dave Roberts suddenly be an incompetent idiot who couldn't manage a Little League team?
Apparently, when the Dodgers win, it's because of the players, the payroll, and Andrew Friedman. But when they lose, it's because Doc didn't pinch-hit, pulled a pitcher too soon, left another pitcher in too long, or failed to consult the managerial geniuses sitting on their couches with a beer in one hand and a remote in the other.
Of course, these same geniuses have a perfect record managing Major League Baseball games. Zero wins, zero losses, and absolutely zero accountability.
Dave Roberts isn't perfect. No manager is. But three rings in six seasons ought to buy a guy something more than a one-game expiration date on his intelligence.
Some Dodger fans don't want a manager. They want a magician who wins 162 games, sweeps every postseason series, and never makes a decision they can criticize in hindsight.
And even then, they'd complain that he didn't win by enough!
And here's the funniest part: Every time Roberts makes a decision that works, it is obvious. Any idiot could have made that move. But when it doesn't work, suddenly it's proof that he's the dumbest manager in baseball.
If he leaves a starter in and the guy gives up a home run, Doc waited too long. If he takes him out and the reliever gives up a home run, Doc pulled him too soon. If he uses the closer, he should have gone with the setup man. If he uses the setup man, why didn't he use the closer?
It's a fascinating system. Dave Roberts can be wrong no matter what he does, and the fans can be right no matter what happens.
And apparently, Roberts is supposed to personally guarantee that a $300 million roster never strikes out with runners in scoring position, never commits an error, never walks a batter, and never goes into a slump.
Maybe Doc should grab a bat and hit with runners in scoring position. Perhaps he should warm up in the bullpen, throw 100 mph, and then sprint to center field to make a diving catch.
And when Shohei Ohtani strikes out, Freddie Freeman pops up, or Mookie Betts hits into a double play, clearly Roberts should have called the dugout and instructed them to get a hit. What kind of manager forgets to tell his players that?
Here's another inconvenient little detail: The managers sitting in opposing dugouts are paid millions of dollars to win, too. And their players are also professional baseball players. Sometimes they actually outperform the Dodgers. I know, it's a shocking concept.
The Dodgers have reached a point where anything short of a World Championship is considered a catastrophic failure. That's not evidence of bad management. That's evidence of how ridiculously successful this organization has become under Roberts.
Now, I'm not suggesting Doc is beyond criticism. I've criticized him myself, and I'll do it again. But there's a difference between questioning a decision and pretending a manager with three World Series championships somehow forgot how to manage baseball overnight.
The truly remarkable thing about some Dodger fans is that they demand perfection from Dave Roberts while demonstrating absolutely none in their own analysis.
They have the luxury of making every decision after they've seen the outcome. That makes managing pretty easy, doesn't it?
Here's my suggestion: Fire Roberts. Hire one of the brilliant keyboard managers who can predict every pitching change, every pinch-hit opportunity, every stolen base, and every bullpen meltdown with 100% accuracy, provided they're allowed to make those predictions AFTER the game.
I'm sure Andrew Friedman would jump at the opportunity.
And if the Dodgers win the World Series again, don't worry. These same fans will still find three games Dave Roberts almost lost.
Because in Dodgerland, winning three World Series is apparently a coincidence.
But losing one playoff game? THAT'S ALL ON DOC!
BTW, THIS TEAM IS NOT OLD AND PATHETIC. DAVE ROBERTS IS JUST AN IDIOT. There... are you happy?
Milwaukee is better this year. Deal with it. I'm out!
Discussion (13)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Damn that Doc. He put two pitches center cut to Bauers and Mitchell. Oh, wait, that wasn’t Doc? Damn that Doc, with runners on 2nd and 3rd he struck out twice. Oh, wait, that wasn’t Doc either. Doc threw the WP and allowed the SB and following RBI single. Nope, not Doc again.
This loss was not on Dave Roberts. Not every decision turned out positively but there are reasons why the decisions were made. The decision to bring Muncy in was not necessarily wrong. He swung at a pitch that was in the dirt for strike 3 from a pitcher who walked the first two batters he faced.
JDP batting for Rojas was the right move (IMO). I was not upset about Kike’ batting for JDP. AF/BG brought Kike’ back for this moment. 2 runners in scoring position against a LHRP. How long has this successful team played the vet over the kid? We will never know what JDP would have done. We only know that Kike’ did not come through, like all the Dodgers except Will Smith.
Doc did something right. He started Smith and Ohtani, against what many fans wanted. Smith gets the only hit wRISP, a 2-run double, leaving 2 runners in scoring position, only to be stranded. And Ohtani reached base 3 out of his 4 PA, one with a 113.5 MPH base hit.
Fans blaming Roberts are just ignoring that the Brewers are clearly a superior team right now. They are beating the Dodgers in every facet of the game, including SLG. The Dodgers are not blowing the games. They are getting beat by a better team.
The Dodgers still have a game left, so while the fat lady is warming up, she is not singing yet. Can the Dodgers win 4 in a row? Highly unlikely when not one hitter is hitting. But as long as they have a breath, I am not giving up.
Back in the 70's, I remember the competition between Amdal and IBM mainframes. IBM would ask buyers if anything went wrong, would your job be in jeopardy? Then say if you chose IBM you wouldn't be second guessed.
Pinch hitting Muncy instead of JDP was the safe choice. Same with Kike'.
Safe didn't get it done.
Place loose, play to a plan, and win 4 in a row.
I don’t think anyone is actually blaming Roberts—though, unfortunately, many people still do. And the worst part is that they blame him simply because the team didn’t perform. If Roberts bears any blame at all, it’s only because he’s the manager—that’s it. It’s not his fault that the roster is full of aging, injured, and out-of-sync players—all hitting a slump at the worst possible time—or that there isn’t a single pitcher capable of holding onto the few leads they’ve managed to get, even for just one damn inning. But none of this should come as a surprise; it was clear from the moment the entire team’s performance began to decline. Add to that the long list of injuries, and it’s obvious this team was never truly ready to win another championship—we all knew that. I’m no expert, but I think it all started with that game against Freddy Peralta in Los Angeles. I don’t recall if he was still with Milwaukee or Mets at the time, but I do remember that he threw about 90 pitches—only 10 or 12 of which were in the strike zone, while the other 80 were outside. The Dodgers looked absolutely terrible—pathetic, really—chasing pitches. It was one of the most frustrating games I’ve ever seen from a batting perspective. I remember that the losing streak began right after that game; they did manage a six-game winning streak at one point, but then they started losing again, and the team was never the same. To me, that was the beginning of the end. What worries me is how much the roster will actually change next season. I suspect it will only be one or two players, because everyone will claim they had a "good season" or that it "wasn’t their fault"—the usual excuses. But this team has nothing left to give! Please, no more Glass now, Kike, Teo, Graterol, Phillips, Klein, Knack, Miller, Treinen, Call, Rojas Freeman, Muncy, Betts....And yes, I’ll be the first to say it... Ohtani
I've been critical of Roberts in the past. In the last 2-3 years he had improved quite a bit in the postseason.
In this series the Dodger players failed from the top to the bottom. If they had performed marginally better, any of Roberts's decisions wouldn't have even happened or mattered.
Roberts' moves the cause for tonight's defeat is absurd. Anyone believing this Roberts BS doesn't know shit about baseball.
Carry on.
No idea what this column is about, Roberts is inconsequential. His PH blunder is low cost.
Muncy, however, has wise words: “It’s a pretty simple answer,” Max Muncy said, down 3-0. “We’re playing like shit, and they’re playing great.”
There’s plenty of blame to go around. The Dodgers look like a tired team and are getting outplayed, but as Mark likes to say, Ray Charles could see that Roberts botched the bottom of the sixth and should have had Snell out after Bauer's HR at the latest. Burn Rojas, JDP, and Kike in the same AB while weakening the defense at the same time in the 6th. His worst job since 2019. This jumping guys all over the batting order has looked like desperation.
The Brewers outfielders are catching everything while Teo couldn’t get to a foul ball that should have been caught in Game 2. Couldn’t score off Gasser. Yikes. Plenty of blame to go around, but Doc was bad.
I seem to recall a dart board with a picture of a monkey. But maybe I'm imagining things . . .