Dodgers' Dave Roberts Wins Big With Focus On The Top Prize

"When you're a Dodger, people want to take us down, they want to beat us," he told the team during spring training in March. "It's a Game 7. So I think that we've got to look ahead and say that this is going to be harder than it's ever been, and we've got to work even harder. We already got the talent. There isn't any more talent in a major league clubhouse than in this room."

Find Ways To Overcome Adversity

Roberts knows all about perseverance. In the Dodgers' two most recent championship seasons, he found ways for the team to overcome huge adversity on the injury front.

In 2025, the Dodgers led the Majors in player days missed (2,501) and tied for the second-most players on the injured list (29), according to the online sports database Spotrac. Five teams used at least 40 different pitchers, but the Dodgers were the only one to make the playoffs. In 2024, the Dodgers placed 26 players on the injured list and used 40 pitchers.

There there were dips along the way, such as a five-game losing streak in 2024 and a seven-game skid in 2025.

But Roberts never complains about injuries and refuses to use them as an excuse for any struggles on the field.

"Human nature is always looking for the path of least resistance or an excuse or some justification," he said. "There will always be unforeseen circumstances, but we've got to figure out a way to still move forward and realize our expectation of excellence."

Roberts: Build Relationships With Your Players

Roberts was an outfielder in his seven seasons in the Majors. But as a manager, he's learned to put the most emphasis on building a great pitching staff.

"As a position player, you are always of the mindset that you win games because you score more runs than the other team," he said before the 2025 season. "As a coach, as a manager, you realize that you win games because of preventing runs. And I learned that early on."

"My primary goal each year is to build relationships with the pitchers and the catchers. I talk about preventing runs a lot. I ask a lot of questions," he said.

And Roberts added: "I spend a lot of time in the bullpen. As a person who didn't come up pitching, I needed to get up to speed quickly because half of our team are pitchers."

With the world so cynical and the game so negative — as he put it — he wants his players and coaching staff to look to him as a positive influence. Avoiding any sign of phoniness is critical for getting players to believe in him, especially in today's world of coddled and high-priced pro athletes, he says.

"A lot more voices are in the players' heads than there used to be," he said. "It's not a 'my way or the highway' leadership these days in most cases. So if you're not authentic with players, then you lose trust a lot more than you used to. You've got to build relationships more than you did 10, 20, 50 years ago."

Roberts: Understand The Value Of A Meritocracy

Roberts has had several mentors in life, including his baseball coach at UCLA, Gary Adams. Adams recruited Roberts as a walk-on in 1991, then elevated him to a starting position in the outfield after Roberts outplayed a scholarship athlete.

Adams' decision taught Roberts the importance of a meritocracy, a concept he subscribes to today with the Dodgers.

"I'll never forget that, because in very few businesses when you've already invested in something do you not go with your investment," Roberts said.

At UCLA, Roberts rose to become a team captain and two-time All-Pac-10 selection. He also set the school's career record for stolen bases at 109.

Once, Maury Wills, who set the Major League record for stolen bases (104) playing for the Dodgers in 1962, shared a message with Roberts.

"He said, 'DR, one of these days you're going to have to steal an important base when everyone in the ballpark knows you're gonna steal … and you can't be afraid to steal that base,'" Roberts said after Wills died in 2022.

Seize The Moment Like Roberts

That scenario played itself out when Roberts was playing in Game 4 of the 2004 American League championship series. Roberts' Red Sox trailed the Yankees three games to none. Roberts was called on to pinch run at first base with the Red Sox trailing, 4-3, in the bottom of the ninth. The Yankees' Mariano Rivera, perhaps the best closer in baseball history, was on the mound.

Roberts seized the moment, taking off for second base and sliding just under the tag of Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, a five-time Gold Glove winner.

He later scored to tie the game, which the Red Sox won to spark a four-game win streak. That streak lifted the team over New York in one of the greatest postseason comebacks in Major League history. They then beat St. Louis to win the World Series.

Before taking off on the steal, Roberts envisioned former Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner on his left shoulder. Because of his pivotal error, Buckner is still blamed for Boston's crushing loss to the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series. Roberts thought he would be "ostracized or forbidden to return to New England" like Buckner was if thrown out stealing the base.

Luckily, though, another voice grabbed Roberts' ear. "But on my right shoulder, Maury Wills says, 'DR, this is what we talked about. Everyone in the ballpark knows you're going to steal. Don't be afraid to steal that base; you're prepared for it,'" Roberts recalled. "Thank goodness Maury Wills won out."

Dave Roberts' Keys

• Winner of three World Series championships and the only manager to ever make the playoffs in his first 10 seasons.
• Overcame: Advanced from a nonrecruited baseball player at UCLA to one of the superstars in the Pac-10 Conference.
• Lesson: "I never want my ego to get too inflated."

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