Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts on Padres’ Manny Machado: ‘I Love Him Like a Son’
The 2024 NLDS meant so much more than just baseball.
With the recent history between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, this matchup was anticipated since the Opening Day series the two teams played in Seoul, South Korea.
More news: Manny Machado Responds to Dave Roberts’ Claims That Padres Star Threw Ball at Dodgers Manager
The recent history between the two ball clubs could start with the 2020 NLDS, the first time the two franchises met in October. Los Angeles swept San Diego and went on to win their first World Series title since 1988.
Two seasons later in another NLDS matchup, the 111-win Dodgers looked to cruise past the Padres, but this time it was the rivals down the I-5 freeway who took the series 3-1.
In 2024, tensions were at an all-time high as the Dodgers won 98 games in the regular season while San Diego notched 93. After a Wild Card Series sweep over the Atlanta Braves, Padres third baseman Manny Machado noted postgame that the next matchup in L.A. is all they were focused on.
“This is what everybody wanted.”
The Dodgers took Game 1 of the series, but Game 2 is where the tension reached a new level.
After a home run robbery caught by then-Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar, there seemed to be taunting back and forth between him and the fans. Later in the contest, the same behavior continued, but when objects were thrown onto the field, the game had to be delayed.
More objects were thrown, this time by Machado in a video that appeared to show him throwing a baseball in the direction of manager Dave Roberts. The Dodgers skipper called it “unsettling” and “disrespectful” post game.
The Dodgers went on to win the series, and eventually the World Series, but as the two teams look to face off in spring training for the first time since October, Roberts doesn’t seem to have any bad blood.
“You’re in an intense series,” Roberts said. “He’s going to do whatever he can to do to help his team win, and I’m going to do the same.
“I love him like a son, and that’ll never change, but we’re both competitors.”
Roberts and his trademark class will lead the Dodgers on their quest to become baseball’s first back-to-back champions in a quarter century.
More news: Dodgers Champion Joe Kelly Takes Another Shot at Yankees, Manager Aaron Boone
Photo Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports Have you joined our Discord Channel yet? Be a part of the ultimate Dodgers Nation community and get VIP Nation Access! Don’t miss out on real-time Dodgers talk, call-in access to Dodgers Dougout, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive interviews, giveaways, and more!
