Last July a disgruntled Dodgers fan from Redondo Beach wrote a letter to the Los Angeles Times castigating manager Dave Roberts for what the writer considered mishandling of his pitching staff. He wrote, in part:
“ . . . Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ inane approach to his pitching staff continues to cost the team wins . . . Roberts continues to be the problem and has to go.”
I wonder what that guy thought after observing Roberts’ trip to the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning of Game Five between Los Angeles and the Yankees.
I thought it was the most impactful moment in the game that ended this World Series.
The Dodgers had just scored two to take a 7-6 lead, and New York had put two men on base via a double by Aaron Judge and walk to Jazz Chisholm after Juan Soto grounded out to start the inning. Yankee Stadium was rocking.
Blake Treinen, Roberts’ closer, had already thrown 38 pitches as the seventh pitcher of the night after entering the game in the sixth. New York had scored once in that inning to go ahead 6-5 and had men on first and second.
Treinen, though gassed by the bottom of the eighth, didn’t want to be lifted.
Major League managers rarely make a trip to the mound just to have a pep talk. Almost always, they have the hook in their hand.
But that’s not what transpired.
The skipper grabbed Treinen by the front of his jersey, shook it a time or two, and, according to Treinen, said, “Focus up.” That was followed with, “This is your last guy.”
Giancarlo Stanton, who had hit his seventh home run of the post season in the bottom of the third, was that guy.
Treinen threw a 95-miles-per-hour pitch just off dead center of the strike zone, but Stanton got only enough of it to loft a harmless fly to Mookie Betts in right field.
Instead of returning to the mound to change pitchers, though, Roberts caught his first baseman, Freddie Freeman, give him a wave that told Roberts to let Treinen face the next hitter, lefthanded hitting Anthony Rizzo.
In an example of the mutual trust that defined the bond between the manager and his players on this Dodgers team, Roberts stayed in the dugout.
Treinen struck out Rizzo on four pitches.
Afterward, Freeman—voted the World Series Most Valuable Player Award—said, “That’s one of the best games I’ve ever seen managed.”
Added Betts: “To be honest, Dave is the real reason why we’re here.”
That fan from Redondo Beach wasn’t alone in criticizing Roberts.
Believe it or not, Roberts has been roasted repeatedly because, though his teams have dominated the regular season with five 100-plus win seasons in nine tries and an 851-507 record (winning percentage .627), this was their first full-season World Series championship.
But that’s like saying the Yankees’ abominable fifth inning in Game Five was manager Aaron Boone’s fault.
More tee ball than professional, that was a reminder that human beings, who make mistakes, play Major League baseball, too.
Consider:
- The muffed fly ball by Aaron Judge that followed the first hit Gerrit Cole allowed in the game was Judge’s FIRST ERROR of the season.
- When Wil Smith grounded to Anthony Volpe five pitches later, he hit it to last season’s Gold Glove shortstop—who bounced his throw to third base trying to nail the lead runner. Another error, bases loaded.
- And after striking out Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani, Cole failed to cover first base on a slow grounder to Rizzo. That’s Spring Training 101 and would have been the third out without a run scoring. An infield single, but human error.
Speaking of human frailties, the two biggest stars in this star-studded World Series were Ohtani and Judge, who between them hit 112 home runs during the season. Ohtani finished the five games 2-for-19, and Judge went 4-for-18 with nine strikeouts. Judge had the only homer.
Amid the spraying champagne in the post-game locker room, Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough, talked about what the victory should mean to Roberts. And to fans.
“It should mean for all those that ever doubted, ever criticized, to never do it again—to trust in what this guy is doing.”
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Denny Dressman is a veteran of 43 years in the newspaper business, including 25 at the Rocky Mountain News, where he began as executive sports editor. He is the author of 16 books, nine of them sports-related. You can write to Denny at dennydressman@comcast.net.