The Dodgers tend to rile up a lot of emotions in almost every baseball fan. But that might apply to Red Sox fans more than most. That’s primarily due to two people, both of whom happen to be two of the most important people in Red Sox history: Mookie Betts and Dave Roberts.
Is Dave Roberts still more famous for the steal in 2004 than for anything he’s done in the LA dugout? That probably depends on who you ask. And while it’s obviously impossible for me to answer that objectively — my perspective
of his career and fame is totally colored by my Red Sox fandom — I think the answer is yes. His stolen base in Game 4 is probably the most important steal in baseball history. Your grandkids are going to know about it. If a prominent media outlet put it on a list of the 10 biggest moments in MLB history, I don’t think many people would object. I can’t even really think of any other stolen base that’s anywhere near as famous, with the possible exception of Jackie Robinson’s steal of home in the 1955 World Series, which happened in a game that the Dodgers didn’t even win.
When you’re responsible for one of the biggest moments in baseball history, that’s going to be what you’re remembered for, no matter how successful of a managerial career you subsequently have. And that’s particularly true in baseball, where coaches aren’t as consequential as they are in other sports and don’t build up personality cults.
But it’s quite possible that Roberts is about to do something that may one day come to rival the steal in terms of its historical half-life: He may bench the greatest baseball player of all-time in the playoffs.
It has been a weird year for Shohei Ohtani. 2026 was supposed to be the year he returned to pitching and hitting full-time and, for a while there, things were looking great. He started 14 games over the first three months of the season, posting an outstanding 2.87 ERA and looking poised to compete for his first Cy Young Award. And with 18 homers and an OPS over .900 through the first half of the season, it wasn’t hard to imagine him winning both the MVP and the Cy Young in what would probably be the greatest single season by any professional athlete in world sports history.
Unfortunately, a knee injury cut his pitching season short. A subsequent right biceps strain has put a serious damper on his hitting. Still struggling with both injuries, Ohtani went on the IL in late September amidst one of the worst slumps of his career. There were even doubts about whether he would be able to play in the postseason. Ohtani still ended up being incredibly valuable to the Dodgers, leading the team in bWAR. He also made it back for the playoffs. But it’s been ugly, as he is just 3-20 without a single extrabase hit.
Shohei Ohtani is not currently Shohei Ohtani. The best player in the game is hurting his team. Roberts has already moved him down the order, and now we know that the Dodgers have discussed taking him out of the lineup altogether.
For tonight, anyway, Roberts is not going to push that detonator. “He’s adamant he feels good enough to be in there. He’s close to finding something with his swing. I feel great about it,” Roberts said. “He was very convicted that he is onto something mechanically. He was adamant that he can help us. He’s well enough to help us win a baseball game. So that’s all I needed to hear.”
From the moment he established himself as a star the likes of which the sport has never before seen, it’s been clear that Shohei Ohtani — not Dave Roberts or Joe Madden or Phil Nevin — decides when and where Shohei Ohtani plays. So Roberts’ quote isn’t all that surprising. But if what if the mechanical tweaks don’t work? What if we see another 0-fer tonight filled with noncompetitive at-bats? What if the Dodgers lose, and Dave Roberts is, once again, forced to try to save a team down three games to none in the league championship series?
Tomorrow night, Roberts might face what would be a legacy-defining moment for most managers. Fortunately for him he’s been there before.
Use this space to talk about Roberts, Ohtani, and whatever else you want and, as always, be good to one another.
