Dodgers Team News

Multiple Dodgers Praise Dave Roberts For Keeping Optimism Everyday Despite Tough Times

Dave Roberts is wrapping up his ninth season as the Los Angeles Dodgers manager, marking his ninth trip to the postseason and the team’s 12th consecutive playoff appearance.

It hasn’t been easy even though no franchise has had more World Series opportunities over the past decade.

With a .627 winning percentage, Roberts holds the highest win rate among all non-Negro League managers. He has also guided the Dodgers to five 100-win seasons, a feat surpassed only by legendary managers Joe McCarthy and Bobby Cox.

How does Roberts stay levelheaded with a high-stress job like this?

According to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, John Mark Comer’s book “Live No Lies” has tapped Roberts into his faith, to fight three evils: the devil, the flesh, and the world. To Roberts, he explains, the book “keeps me humble.”

“These are things,” he says, “to keep my mind and soul right.”

It also enables him to stay optimistic through the long season which has its low points.

That positivity has been his guiding force. In his first spring with the Dodgers, Freeman was impressed by how Roberts consistently brought energy and enthusiasm to daily meetings, which are usually more low-key and subdued.

 “To do meetings every single morning and captivate a room and have everyone listening to you and care about what you’re saying, that’s really, really hard to do,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said.

Second baseman Gavin Lux said, “he brings the same energy every day.”

“It’s so hard,” first base coach Clayton McCullough said, “to be as positive and energetic and consistent as Dave is every day.”

Roberts remains under contract through the end of next season but he isn’t worried about an extension right now.

“Right now, my clear focus is the postseason,” Roberts said. “I have a contract for next year. If we work something out in the winter, great. If we don’t, then I’ll just play it till the end. That’s kind of where my head is at.

“I know that I’ll have a job in baseball. I have a contract for next year. I’m not too concerned about job security. I just want to win another championship for the city of Los Angeles.”

Photo Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

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Maren Angus

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. Despite being raised in the South, her sports obsession has always been in Los Angeles. She is currently a staff writer for Dodgers Nation and the LA Sports Report Network.

5 Comments

  1. The talent he has been provided with is the reason for the limited success. When you have the most talented team for 9 years and only have 1 abbreviated season championship is a failure! It is time to get a mgr that will get the most from their players in the post season!

  2. When you have the most talent every year for 9 years and you have only 1 championship in an abbreviated season is unacceptable. I started being a Dodgers fan when Dusty Baker was in the outfield and it is hard to stay a fan when the same thing happens every postseason. It is time for a change.

  3. Until Friedman figures out a way to get 2 or 3 healthy pitchers that can give the Dodgers quality starters in the playoffs, the team will probably continue to lose early in the post season. I hope that isn’t true this year, but the next two games feature Walker Bueller, who is a shell of what he used to be, and Brandon Knack. The starting pitching in the postseason has been atrocious the last 3 seasons. Roberts shouldnt have his job in jeopardy, but pitching coaches, trainers, and front office should be concerned about their futures

  4. When you have as many injuries to that talented squad over the last three years you should feel blessed to just continue to be in the playoffs. Dodger fans are a spoiled lot.

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