SAN FRANCISCO — Dave Roberts’ phone buzzed just after 2 p.m. Friday. The Los Angeles Dodgers manager found out just like everyone else but understands the score more than most. Each managerial hire comes with an expiration date. We just never know when it is until it comes.
But he was still surprised to see Friday that the San Francisco Giants, in this very same ballpark this morning, brought in the lone manager to knock off the Dodgers for the NL West crown over the last decade and fired him. It’s been a frustrating year in San Francisco, Roberts conceded. But the timing — to dismiss Gabe Kapler with three days to go in the regular season, and just 726 days after Oracle Park roared to life for a division title — came with some level of shock.
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“For me, it’s just a reminder that it can always be taken away,” Roberts said.
Perhaps the doors could have slid differently for both men. The Dodgers chose Roberts over Kapler to be their next manager in 2015 (after the San Diego Padres, notably, didn’t bother to bring Roberts in for an interview despite him already being in their organization with a sterling reputation).
Kapler remained in the organization until getting his first manager gig with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2018 and was fired over two middling seasons. A 107-win campaign alongside fellow former Dodgers official Farhan Zaidi spelled promise for his Giants tenure, but that’s now over, too in the wake of another season hovering around .500 and ever-increasing noise surrounding a franchise that has stagnated.
Then there’s Roberts. No manager in National or American League history has won games at a higher clip since he won the gig, with Friday’s 6-2 win over the Kap-less Giants bringing him to within a win of his fifth 100-win campaign in seven full seasons. Another trip to October looms. Only Craig Counsell, a free agent at years’ end, has been with his club longer among his National League colleagues. If Counsell leaves this winter, and with Terry Francona’s expected retirement, there’s a chance only Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash and Seattle’s Scott Servais will have been with their clubs longer by the time this hiring cycle rolls around.
Just like that, Roberts has tenure.
“It’s something that I never imagined,” Roberts said.
“I think it just goes back to I’ve been relentless for my love for players, my love for the Dodgers and being positive with guys. I think that’s something that will win out. At the end of the day, I’m true to who I am and I’m very fortunate to have this opportunity.”
Friday represented something else that made Roberts’ longevity stand out, as he exchanged lineup cards with Giants interim manager Kai Correa and stopped for a photo. The game is believed to be the first in any of the “Big Four” sports to feature two head coaches or managers of Asian descent — Roberts’ mother is Japanese, and Correa is of native Hawaiian, Portuguese and Japanese descent.
“It’s good for people that look like us,” Roberts said. “He’s blazing trails, too.”
Dodger Manager Dave Roberts and Giants’ interim skipper Kai Correa are the first managers/coaches of Asian descent to face each other in the Big 4 professional sports (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL). pic.twitter.com/IVJVMtPLWJ
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 30, 2023
And the effort the Dodgers put forth Friday was reflective of the standard that has been the status quo in this division outside of that one peak Kapler season. Will Smith broke his quiet September with a two-run, first-inning blast. Freddie Freeman collected three hits and a homer. J.D. Martinez added another.
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Lance Lynn, in his final audition for his to-be-determined October role, got through six largely quiet innings — save for the stir he generated after Correa successfully challenged that Miguel Rojas had violated the shift restrictions. Lynn would issue a pair of sixth-inning walks after the call was overturned, then induced an inning-ending double play, gesturing to the Giants dugout as he harrumphed and waltzed off the mound.
Roberts said he didn’t have a problem with Correa digging into the new chapter of the rulebook on his first day in the interim role.
“I’ve never seen that before,” Freeman said. “Interesting. That’s — no comment.”
Rojas was surprised.
“I’ve been playing like that the whole year,” Rojas said, admitting his heel was probably on the lip of the infield grass. “It’s kind of a desperate move to go challenge those plays. I don’t think it’s right. Because we’re all playing the same game. Their shortstop is doing kind of the same thing. Kind of a smart move there. But what can we do?
“I’m glad it happened that way so going forward, going into what really matters, winning games in the postseason, I don’t commit that mistake again.”
Ultimately, it was nothing more than a reminder in a game that meant little other than filling out another date and some more tickets in the Oracle Park till. The only real carrot in front of the Dodgers is some round numbers. Winning 100 games means something. Freeman has a chance at history, becoming the first player with at least 60 doubles since World War II and potentially the first player ever to pair that with 30 home runs in the same season. Otherwise, just two more games are left until Los Angeles will face a matchup with real stakes.
The Giants exited with questions left unanswered about the short- and long-term future of their on-field product. The Dodgers are just trying to get through this final weekend without any more scares like the one they got in the seventh inning when Rojas got hit by a pitch on his left hand and exited with a contusion. Roberts said X-rays were negative; Rojas will undergo further testing on Saturday.
But, Roberts said, “I think we dodged a bullet.”
A reminder this strong campaign could be taken away.
(Photo of Dave Roberts: John Hefti / USA Today)
Fabian Ardaya is a staff writer covering the Los Angeles Dodgers for The Athletic. He previously spent three seasons covering the crosstown Los Angeles Angels for The Athletic. He graduated from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in May 2017 after growing up in a Phoenix-area suburb. Follow Fabian on Twitter @FabianArdaya
