The celebration on the sphere was subdued, no dogpile, no dancing, simply veteran champions appearing like champions.
The Dodgers clinched their eleventh Nationwide League West title in 12 years Thursday night time at Dodger Stadium like they anticipate to be right here, agency handshakes, mild hugs, the standard Randy Newman soundtrack accompanying the standard relieved smiles.
Besides, wait a minute, who was that small, stocky man bouncing out of the pack and all of a sudden main cheers?
In fact. It was Dodger supervisor Dave Roberts. That is his crew. That is his city. This has been his season.
“Best fans in the world! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Roberts shouted whereas waving his division championship hat to the roaring followers after the Dodgers’ 7-2 clinching victory over the San Diego Padres.
Mookie Betts ran as much as Roberts and wrapped him in a hug.
“I love you, baby,” shouted Roberts and, consider it, Roberts has managed this crew with that love.
Later within the clubhouse Roberts addressed his gamers with, “No one said this was going to be easy! You’ve been through hell and back and I want to thank you guys for all sticking together, believing in one another and I promise you this! No team we face is going to have more fight than us.”
Moments later, they popped the champagne.
Drink up, Doc.
This was your finest season but.
He gave that speech to his gamers, however he might have been speaking about himself. He’s been via hell and again and no supervisor they face goes to have extra battle than him.
Granted, some readers are going to be enraged with that assertion, baffled that anybody would overtly applaud probably the most embattled nine-year supervisor in Dodger historical past.
The Dodgers are NL West Champions for the eleventh time in 12 years. However can they get to the World Sequence this yr?
Take care of it. Saddled with monumental distractions, hampered with numerous accidents, confronted with actual job insecurity, Roberts slid head-first into the challenges of 2024 and popped up as if he was standing on second base in Boston.
The load of Shohei Ohtani, the whiplash of Betts, the woeful beginning pitching, all of it was deftly dealt with by a supervisor who has gained eight division titles in his 9 seasons.
“They all feel sweet but I’ll tell you man, with what we’ve done this year, this feels a tick sweeter,” stated Roberts.
Take into consideration that. Roberts has been the supervisor right here for practically a decade and solely as soon as has he not gained a division title, and even that point, the Dodgers completed second by a recreation.
Like him or not, rip him for those who should, second guess him as you’ll, the 2024 common season proved for sure that Roberts is within the excellent spot within the excellent metropolis for the proper crew.
He wins right here. He thrives right here. He belongs right here.
“I’m just so proud of these guys, the way they fought through adversity, stuck together, found a way to win this division again, it was hard fought, we earned it,” Roberts stated.
He’s turning into Tommy Lasorda with out the bluster, and this season he’s by no means been higher at making a blue heaven on earth.
Dodgers gamers and coaches have fun after successful the NL West title on Thursday night time at Dodger Stadium.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Instances)
And perceive, these above phrases have been written lower than 48 hours after his most pilloried transfer of the yr.
This occurred Tuesday night time towards the San Diego Padres, when Roberts controversially took off the bunt signal for Miguel Rojas after one strike and the shortstop promptly hit right into a game-ending triple play, leaving the nice Ohtani stewing on deck and the Dodgers’ title hopes briefly on the brink.
C’mon individuals. Roberts is now imagined to handle as if making an attempt to remain out of a triple play? That’s absurd. Bunting or not, even together with his weakest swing, the assumed worst case state of affairs could be Rojas hitting right into a double play, and Ohtani would have nonetheless been given an opportunity to tie up what grew to become a Padres’ 4-2 victory.
Roberts was victimized by an ideal storm, which mustn’t smash the way in which he has well navigated this season.
Roberts’ energy has all the time been in conserving his gamers cool and targeted amid the fixed distractions that plague Hollywood’s crew. He’s the Dodgers’ smiling face for sponsors, their calming voice for the media, and a protecting blanket for his continuously unsettled clubhouse.
This season he’s wanted to be all of that, and he has.
Sitting on the stage with Ohtani have been Dodgers officers Mark Walter and Andrew Friedman, Ohtani’s agent Nez Balelo and then-interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
The place was Roberts? He had been exiled to the viewers with the a number of hundred media members, a perceived message about his significance to the way forward for this group. Mixed with the truth that Ohtani didn’t embrace the supervisor in contract language that assured Friedman and Walter’s future, Roberts’ state of affairs appeared significantly tenuous.
To all that, add the big further worldwide consideration and unwieldy presence that comes with Ohtani each day, and Roberts might have melted down earlier than the season even began.
He didn’t. He solely bought stronger. He solely grew to become extra charming, patiently answering each Ohtani query with confidence and path, deferring to his star whereas making it clear Roberts was nonetheless the boss.
Then when the scandal broke revealing Mizuhara had stolen $16 million from Ohtani for playing functions? Roberts by no means modified, backing the harmless Ohtani at each angle, creating an environment the place his star felt snug to shine via the clouded mess.
The Ohtani Affair was solely the start. Days earlier than the beginning of the season, Roberts was handed Mookie Insanity.
You see, it was the supervisor who was charged with overseeing Gold Glove proper fielder Mookie Betts’ sudden transfer to shortstop, a place he had barely performed within the main leagues. Roberts needed to maintain Betts’ spirits up as he struggled within the area, and so he did, sufficient that Betts bought off to an all-star begin on the plate. Then, later within the season, when a annoyed Betts was all of a sudden moved again to proper area, Roberts was there once more with a powerful shoulder and understanding tone.
Some seasons Roberts had merely directed or overseen. This season, he really managed, from Ohtani to Betts to each veteran in that clubhouse that grew to become aggravated with the eye that all of a sudden descended on their each transfer. He hid their frustration. He voiced their concern. He dealt with it.
If it looks like Roberts is simply too Pollyanna, properly, for some gamers, it really works. Take Gavin Lux, who struggled early in his comeback from knee surgical procedure however who finally rewarded Roberts’ constant public religion by making large contributions late within the season.
Even when issues have been really terrible — how about all these pitching accidents? — Roberts saved a gradual focus. He by no means confirmed panic whereas dropping their prime two pitchers for a lot of the summer time, and patiently delivered every harm replace like every little thing was going to be simply effective.
On Thursday, it grew to become official, every little thing was simply effective, the Dodgers are usually not solely the Nationwide League West champs but additionally the crew with the most effective document in baseball.
“Inside the clubhouse, we’ve dealt with a lot … but yeah, we’ve still had a pretty good season,” stated Roberts.
Roberts has had a fairly nice season, and, barring a 3rd straight postseason meltdown, right here’s guessing Dodger officers will acknowledge that and reward him with an applicable contract extension this winter.
At the very least 100 wins in 5 of eight full seasons? A successful share just about unmatched at the beginning of a profession? And, oh, a World Sequence championship and two World Sequence appearances?
Yeah, effective, you fireplace him.
In a scene that epitomized Roberts’ season, he got here to the mound in late Could to ostensibly take away visibly struggling journeyman reliever Yohan Ramirez from the sport after he had hit 4 of his final eight batters relationship again to a earlier look.
However Roberts didn’t give Ramirez the hook. As an alternative, he gave him the hug, pulling him shut and whispering in his ear in a scene that went viral.
“He’s emotional and cares, and he’s trying to impress with a new ballclub,” Roberts defined later. “I just tried to reassure him and give him some confidence, love on him a little bit, and try to take a little bit of pressure off.”
Roberts added, “You just see the player, and you kind of feel what he’s got going on in his brain, in his heart, all that stuff. Sometimes I’m sure — I’ve never thrown a major league inning — but you feel like you’re on an island. So I wanted to show that we were all behind him.”
It labored. Ramirez proceeded to flee a bases-loaded jam, and in his subsequent 14 appearances recorded a 1.65 ERA with 15 strikeouts and 4 walks earlier than being despatched packing on the finish of July.
This was only one win in a season crammed with them for Doc, on name for eight division titles in 9 years and counting.
