Dave Roberts has spent this season adding to a résumé that already looks like it belongs in the Hall of Fame, and he hit another major marker recently when he reached 1,000 career wins.
That number is easy to admire on its own, but the real case for Roberts keeps coming from inside the Dodgers clubhouse. Freddie Freeman, speaking to Maddie Lee of the L.A. Times, made it clear he thinks Roberts brings something no one else can match in Los Angeles.
“To be the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, so much pressure, so much expectations, to have Doc as our manager leading it, I don’t think there’s anybody that could do what he does,” veteran first baseman Freddie Freeman said.
Freeman said Roberts does far more than fill out a lineup card. The Dodgers first baseman pointed to the way Roberts handles the human side of the job, from keeping communication open to managing a room full of personalities.
“He cares about people,” Freeman said. “His door’s always open.
Being a manager is obviously managing baseball, but it’s more about managing egos. You have 26 players, you have all the coaching staff, support staff - and our clubhouse runs smoothly, and that’s because of Dave Roberts.
“He’s a man that’s been through it all. He was a player.
He knows how hard the game is. He’s been in the manager seat for a long time here.
He knows the ups and downs of the season. We trust him.
He trusts us. And I think that’s the key word in all this, is trust.
When you have trust with your manager, and know he’s going to put you in the right spots to succeed, it’s very easy to run through walls for him.”
Roberts’ track record backs up the praise. He became the fastest manager in MLB history to reach 1,000 wins, and he owns one of the highest winning percentages the league has ever seen.
The Dodgers have also piled up the biggest team accomplishments under his watch: three World Series championships, five National League pennants, and a postseason appearance every year he’s managed the club.
Freeman isn’t the only Dodger speaking up for him, either. Mookie Betts has praised Roberts for the way he handles people and builds real relationships, while Teoscar Hernández said being coached by Roberts matched exactly what he expected.
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