Haters Beware: Dodgers Star Stands Up for…

Despite already leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a World Series title in 2020, in some ways the Dodgers’ 2024 championship was redemption for manager Dave Roberts. There have been numerous calls for Roberts’ job, especially after the Dodgers were eliminated from the postseason in the first round in 2022 and 2023.

Even after leading the Dodgers to the postseason year after year and winning the National League West every single season, Roberts’ success was not enough to ward off the doubters.

Roberts has seemingly put those doubts to the side after the Dodgers won their second World Series title under him. With Roberts’ lead, the Dodgers overcame numerous injuries and a 2-1 deficit in the NL Division Series to head back to the World Series, where they defeated the New York Yankees in commanding fashion.

Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas joined several of his teammates in commending Roberts for leading the team to the victory. Like Teoscar Hernández, Rojas credited Roberts calling an impromptu team meeting in Atlanta in September, which helped the Dodgers get the confidence for their run in October.

“It was significant because he knows the group,” Rojas told Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain. “He always said it, he said it from the bottom of his heart. He said in Atlanta when he got that meeting with us that he trusts in this group, and he loved this group more than any group that he had. So I believe him, I trust him, and I feel like he was saying that the truth from the bottom is heart.”

Rojas emphasized that Roberts’ knowledge and relationship with every player was pivotal in giving the team the motivation needed.

“That’s why I feel like he was the perfect guy for this group to have, because he knew the group,” Roberts told McKain. “He knows there’s gonna be a difference from one player or one pitcher or whoever it is, or coaching staff, whatever. He got the whole thing figured out, because it’s him knowing the group and what everybody’s things are. The motivation for everybody was different, so he knew the group and he knew everybody.”

That knowledge of his team has helped make Roberts the second-longest tenured manager in MLB, and a two-time World Series champion as a manager.