There will always be high expectations for the person managing the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fans demand a World Series year in and year out while anything short of it is considered a lost season.
The words, “Fire Dave Roberts,” have been written so many times over the past nine years that the manager has lost count. That hasn’t stopped him from continuing to succeed, though.
“The only ones who question him, I think, is you guys,” Dodgers owner Mark Walter said before the team won the World Series. “He’s won four pennants in eight years. Anyone who thinks they can do better than that – that’s a lot.”
Roberts doesn’t get enough credit sometimes for the job he has done. But, that doesn’t bother him.
“I’ve learned to have thicker skin and try to appreciate the fact that there’s always going to be criticism. Maybe more jaded at times,” Roberts said.
“But it is a results business, and I get that. I understand the job, the market, but I’m just happy that our guys really performed.”
This season was a masterclass in managing from Roberts and he could have easily given up and looked ahead to 2025. Instead, he gathered his team and they locked in.
“There’s a lot of times in the season where we could have punted and had every excuse to look forward to ’25,” Roberts said. “But they didn’t.”
President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman gave Roberts all the credit for that.
“I think there were times during the year with some of the injuries we had where it was a little bit deflating,” Friedman said. “And I think Doc did a great job of getting in front of that and pumping some enthusiasm and optimism into the group.”
But the noise is also a positive note because if there wasn’t any, it would as if the fan base didn’t care.
“We have such a great fan base and we love that,” Friedman said after the Division Series victory over the Padres. “The expectations are super high. We love that as well. And whenever we fall short of that, there’s a lot of blame to go around and a lot of disappointed people. We would much rather that than people not caring.
“The theater of October baseball is all outcome-based. If you have a good outcome, positive things are said and written. If you have a bad outcome, really bad things are said and written.”
The 2024 postseason was full of positives for Roberts and the Dodgers. It’s safe to assume fans won’t be chanting ‘Fire Dave Roberts’ anymore.
