Soscia is still your man.....bye Friedman....Zionism sucks..
Tony - 5 years ago
Each year, my level of excitement about the Dodgers wains. I thought about it last year, and it came down to this for me: I was a huge Dodger fan because they played good baseball, had the greatest baseball announcer ever, were run by Tommy Lasorda, and had the record-setting infield of Garvey, Lopes, Russell, and Cey.
Well guess what? Three of those things are gone, and I'm tired of just "good" baseball. Just like so many others, I'm really sick and tired of a team that has a front office that seems to still hold to the Branch Rickey theory of just having a very good team to make money. Houston, Boston, The GIANTS and YANKEES are all known for doing whatever it takes to win a World Series. The Dodgers history of free agency is terrible. Either they get big names that under produce; or the let producing free agents go elsewhere to pick up a ring (Talk to Redman about that).
I guess I'm just sick of watching "good" baseball. Last year when the Sox beat the Dodgers, I made my mind up to have them as my favorite team over the Dodgers (I've been a huge Red Sox fan since the days of Yaz). They make it clear that they want to win it all.
Do I hate the Dodgers? Nope. Do I get excited about them anymore? Nope. Until they get a front office that makes it absolutely clear that they want to win it all; and have a manager who doesn't put a dunce cap on in every post-season; the Dodgers are nothing but a nice team to watch. And Kershaw needs to go. I didn't want him back last year because I knew (like everyone else) that he wouldn't get it done in the post season. But the "Dodger Way" will keep him because he's "the face of the team". If decent, non-championship baseball is the norm; then indeed Kershaw is the face of the Dodgers.
Paul - 5 years ago
Long time dodger fan loosing enthusiasm based on the following facts, poor management decisions , keeping players for personal reasons that can not perform and keeping capable players on hold when the goal is to win a world championship baseball series. Hey dodger management the loyal fans pay your salaries and more this is not the current White House . It seems that 31 years ago was the last time Los Angeles had a world championship. Boston snapped their curse. We have the Chavez ravine curse I suppose the older fans know what I am talking about ugly events in history I have friends that were pushed out of their homes to build dodger stadium sad sad history.
dave roberts was a good ballplayer, he is and has been horrible as a manager. i have seen games where an umpire makes a bad call which puts a guy on first . next guy gets a broken bat single, and roberts pulls the pitcher. kershaw got the out they needed, why leave him in when you know he has been prone to give up the long ball this year. where was kenley jansen? the dodger hitters are good, but they are also dumb. i learned the game a long time ago. as a hitter it was my job to get on base by any means i could.i have been a dodger fan since 1946, and i have never seen a dumber group. the other teams statistics tell them where a guy usually hits the ball and the load one side of the infield or the other. in the past that would be ab invitation to any smart hitter to lay down a bunt and take the free base. bot these guys, they want to try and beat the shift. everything is against them. look at their pathetic batting averages. their best home run hitter had about 40, but these big power swingers going for the long ball really hurts the team, roberts makes horrible decisions with the pitchers and has no control or idea what to do with the hitters. HE NEEDS TO GO
dwain gallo - 5 years ago
In order for changes to be made, stop going to games, don't buy or renew season tickets .Cancel Spectrum untill all cable ,dish and direct get a fair deal. These thieves are raking in money and don't want to spend it to deliver a WS CHAMPIONSHIP!
Steve R - 5 years ago
Kershaw hasn’t made the transition from power pitcher to finesse pitcher. Plus Roberts is a godawful manager when it comes to the pitchers. Remember when he took out Hill?
Leon Bernardi - 5 years ago
All season long even winning 106 games I always felt like there was something wrong. They managed to lose a lot of games they should have won. The National league was so weak and the dodgers were just dominating. The post season should have been a cake walk, Dave Roberts would not stay with the hot hand, Freese, Martin, Hernandez and Maeda were all having a good post season, doesn’t make any sense not to go with them. I’ve been a fan since 1955
JB - 5 years ago
Not Dave Roberts - but, the whole team of tech geeks in this office/clubhouse needs to be sent to the Apple Store. Sheesh! It took over 30 years for Big Blue to beat a chess grandmaster, how long do you think it will take for the computer addicts like Bill James and Brian Kenny and the like to triumph over the baseball minds? A decade? Maybe longer?
Every solution to the Dodger debacle that this writer pointed out was a baseball solution, not a statistics-solution. No one on a laptop can tell you it was time for Kershaw to be finished after the 7th. No one on a laptop can tell you it was time for Jansen, unless he/she was looking at salaries! Dave Roberts is a baseball-savvy guy - remember him in the 2004 playoffs. No computer geek can advise you to steal 2nd on Mariano Rivera. Don't hamstring him with this nonsense, tell him to MANAGE. He'll fix this.
Richard Montagna - 5 years ago
There is only one and only one reason game 5 was lost. It is the problem the Dodgers have had since day one. That is the bullpen. NOTHING WAS DONE TO FIX IT. Band aids don't work.
Let me start by saying by saying I'v been a Dodgers fan since 1949.I totally Bleed Dodger Blue.That said I cant disagree with Huston's assessment on Dave Roberts. Right on the money. He must go As for Friedman I loss all respect for him when he let Zack Greinke gehers away Unforgivable!!! I say hire Mike Scioscia to manage. The Team should also play more small ball As foe Honey he did a great job with the pitchers.It wasen't Him who made the dumb moves. that's the end of my rant GO DODGERS !!!!!!!!!
Shellie - 5 years ago
After the last two years isn't it evident that the manager needs to go. Many poor decisions on his part.
jim davis - 5 years ago
Now is not the time to think about firing the manager. There were wrong decisions made, no doubt. Clayton should never be put in relief. This situation should have been planned before the game started.
It appears we are not using statisics in pitching and matchups. We should have at least two closers before the season starts.
I have been a Dodger fan since Brooklyn, do not plan to change
Joe Hollenbeck - 5 years ago
Our timing was barely off to get Maddon in the year we got Roberts. It's still a little off, but it's not too late! Maddon is what we need. He's a genius.
Ron - 5 years ago
Been a Dodgers fan since the Brooklyn days and Jackie Robinson's debut. I believe Dave Roberts is a great manager during the season BUT does not possess the giftedness of being a post season one. Reasoning: Patterns reveal reality! Look at his pattern! Tommy was BOTH. I believe it is time for a new manager to come on the scene for the betterment of helping the team forget the past and enter into a NEW beginning. The same is for us fans. Let's turn the page to a new chapter in the Dodgers history.
A word to the Dodgers heads that they almost did. Why don't they do what no other team in my memory has done. What is that? Think outside the normal baseball box and secure or develop two, yes 2, closers! A novel idea! The Dodgers came close to this when they were about to sign Chapmen but ended it because of his domestic situation. Jansen's ego will survive. A righty and lefty combo would be dynamic! BUT 2 would give sufficient rest and time off for each.
Ray V - 5 years ago
Need to make changes: Dave Roberts needs to go, not just for post season failures but for all the regular season mismanagement. Look at all the times he’s stuck with Kenley when it’s obvious he’s not the same closer he once was, look at how hot Verdugo was as a replacement for the injured Pollack, as soon as Pollack returned Verdugo became a once in awhile fill in.
Roberts continues to play guys out of position and takes them out of they’re normal roles : Joc at 1b/ Pollack in CF, when he’s not even your 3rd best defensive outfielder/ all the bullpen: May starts today and bullpen guy tomorrow/ Kelly enters in the 5th inning today and 8th inning guy tomorrow/ Urias starter to bullpen 3rd thru 7th inning guy/ Maeda being pulled after getting 2or 3 outs when he can go numerous innings and using Kelly numerous innings when he’s a 1 inning pitcher. Let’s not even get into how he will play the guy who’s ice cold and sit the guy who’s had the hot hand.
Roberts keeps putting guys in a position to fail ( Kershaw ) it’s time to move on. We need a proven manager who can win the big game, stay away from Scioscia as he wasn’t the architect behind the one WS the Angels won, bring in Joe Girardi or Joe Maddon, guys who have won the big game.
Bruce H. - 5 years ago
We all knew this was a good but flawed team, especially when it came to the bullpen... that has been obvious since very early in the season. But the offense has become a case of feast or famine, especially over the last couple months. The Dodgers believed the long ball was their salvation to everything... poor pitching? We'll just hit some more homers. They suffered the fate of the homer reliant teams... run into a good pitching opponent that can limit your home run production and you're going to suffer because they can't/won't/aren't allowed to try to manufacture runs the old-fashioned "small ball" way. Live by the homer, and die by the lack there of. As for Roberts, if he doesn't have the guts to try to lead this team the right way, then he needs to go... kowtowing to the suits in the front office means you get the blame when it all falls apart. I get it that baseball is a business and a winning season put fannies in the seats, but fans don't care about the owner's pockets... to us that believe this is a championship capable team, this is just another losing season.
Richard Z - 5 years ago
I have been a Dodger fan since 1951, and the end of that season still rankles me. but that's another story. Chuck Dressen was the Dodger manager in 1951, 1952 & 1953.....the Dodgers did well all three years but lost in a playoff in 1951 and in the World Series in 1952 & 1953. The team's record in 1953 was 105 & 49. Dressen wanted something more than a one year contract after 1953 and when he was told no, he resigned. I say this because it is not unheard of to change managers after three excellent years. Let's allow history to repeat itself,.....for all of the reasons stated by other folks on this page, let Roberts go. and get a manager who can actually manage a ball game.
Ed - 5 years ago
Can't blame Roberts for Seager and Bellinger not performing AGAIN
Too many people in the front office playing with their lap tops. Fire Roberts, go back to the old baseball methods, shelve the 'shift' (remember playing 'over the line' as a kid?) and get Kevin Kennedy in as manager.
2017 still lingers as well. Kenta Maeda was the go to guy to start game 7 and history does repeat itself -- Maeda was the 'go to guy' after the Kershaw 7th. Yes, Roberts should know better -- Kershaw has been shaky the first inning or so over the last 4 weeks. Such a blunder!
John Kopilchack - 5 years ago
He is not a good manager.
David Monroe - 5 years ago
I became a Dodger fan in 1959, the year they moved to LA...and beat the White Sox in the World Series. I could tell you the name of any player by the number on his jersey. The game was different then.
There were several years that I watched Walt Alston stand in the dugout while his pitcher walked 5 or 6 batters in a row. Now I see Roberts do the same thing. Alston and Roberts made it an art form. They can get to the post season, but NO promises after that. I loved Lasorda and his style. He was NOT a conservative manager. He was not afraid to put on a squeeze play when the situation was ripe for it. He had guts. He also had players with speed and the ability to steal a base. He knew when to let his players run and when to keep them where they were. The Dodgers could use a Maury Wills now. Maury could distract a pitcher to no end every time he got to first base. We could use someone like that again. There was a time when the Dodgers didn't just get a win...they TOOK it. When someone got on base with less than two outs, those players knew how to bunt the runner to the next base. It was FUNDAMENTALS of baseball back then. Do the things your are being paid to do...for the team.
Last, and CERTAINLY not least: when you are at the plate with a 3-2 count, STOP SWINGING AT BALL FOUR!!!! Steve Garvey became infamous for doing that, and he was one of the Dodger greats! We need hitters who KNOW the strike zone, and are patient enough to NOT swing at air.
Yes, it is time to let Roberts go elsewhere. Same with Kershaw, Kelly, Jansen, Seager, Pollock, Hill, and several others. The Dodgers knew they had problems in the bullpen, and did little to nothing about it. Especially when there were some good relievers available Spend your money wisely and get players and a manager who can deliver in the post season.
Another thought just came to mind: I used to be a catcher, and I knew when warming up a pitcher whether or not he had his "stuff" and was able to hit the strike zone. If he couldn't throw strikes, I was not shy about telling the manager his probable pitcher can't throw strikes. When you see a pitcher throwing the ball 7 feet in the air, or 2 feet outside, or bouncing the ball a foot in front of home plate, for God's sake don't put him on the mound!!!
I could go on and on, but then so could most of us, especially those like me who have been Dodger fans for over 50 years! I will ALWAYS be a Dodger fan!!!
Glenn Blong - 5 years ago
Dodgers should have won that game. Roberts was too sow to pull the trigger on changing the picture. Where is Madden. Let's get him
Lucky
Warren Messineo - 5 years ago
This is not the first time he has messed up the playoffs with VERY poor management decisions. The Dodgers have some issues with hitters not 'showing up' in the playoffs. But, mostly the manager's decisions have been terrible.
Mark Geiger - 5 years ago
Roberts isn't a 'bad' manager; he is able to get along with everyone in the clubhouse, get the team together and behind him, and it seems that he is able to get them to win. But that last one is iffy. Not because the Dodgers haven't won under him, which they obviously have, but it is really due to him? Let's face it, the Dodgers, even with their shortcomings, are a pretty talented team. I won't say that 'anyone could win with these guys', because Roberts has gotten some significant win totals from them, but it does mean that it's hard to tell just how good he is, or isn't, in part due to that. (I'll point out here that the front office hasn't done him many favors in the bullpen department; he is not responsible for the limited options he has had, but he is for the use he has made of them.)
On the other hand, we KNOW that he has struggled in the postseason. Yes, that's where the better/best teams are, but his team is one of those as well, so that's a two-edged sword. I think that when he tries to go by instinct, or gut feeling, or whatever, he really, really struggles. It seems that often, when he makes decisions that aren't guided by metrics, they turn out badly, because while they may be based on loyalty, but not common sense. As hard as it is to do, let's go through some of his more egregious playoff issues, in no particular order:
- 9th inning in Game 4 of the World Series, 2018
- 7th inning in Game 5 of the NLDS, 2019
- 10th inning in Game 5 of the NLDS, 2019
- Pretty much every pitching decision after the 4th inning in Game 2 of the World Series, 2017
- 4th inning in Game 3 of the World Series, 2017
- 5th inning of Game 2 of the World Series, 2018
- 7th inning of Game 1 of the World Series, 2018
I know that the Dodgers are now married to metrics, but there are times when Roberts even goes against those. Hill is pulled after two trips through the lineup, when his numbers show that he actually does better the third time through. Pitcher decisions are made that place the one that has struggled against certain hitters, rather than using ones that have had success. Pinch hitters are employed that are having terrible postseasons over those who are actually hitting fairly well. If numbers count, then they have to count in smaller samples as well; not everything is determined in long stretches of play/time.
I know that Roberts is coming back, and that he is fine with being blamed for his mistakes. But, at some point, management is going to have to decide if just going to the playoffs is the point, or if it is winning the whole enchilada. Statistically, having more wins than losses is great and all, but it is only the last one that really counts, for players, fans, and owners...
Bud Layne - 5 years ago
Roberts is a nice guy. Nice guys finish last.
AL BROWN - 5 years ago
Yes, as long as he is manager, we will never win a championship. He can't make tough decision in crucial situations.
He is clueless in tough decisions making. I think he plays favorite when the tough gets going. You got to go with what got you there not by who you think is better.
AL BROWN - 5 years ago
Yes, as long as he is manager, we will never win a championship. He can't make tough decision in crucial situations.
He is clueless in tough decisions making. I think he plays favorite when the tough gets going. You got to go with what got you there not by who you think is better.
Lorenzo Tindal - 5 years ago
Kershaw should have the dignity to just leave money on the table and retire for the sake of our franchise and fans. As for Roberts, both he and Friedman must be fired asap. No need to give the 154 reasons why because we all know why. The makeup of the Dodgers is entirely too vanilla. We need hitters to get on base and drive in runs, not a bunch whom always are swinging for the fence. I'v been a fan since 1955 and enjoyed 6 world series titles. If I never live to see another from the Dodgers, I'm ok but I'm not ok watching my team being run into the ground by a bunch of nitwits.
RL Johnson - 5 years ago
I'm a lifelong Dodgers and Indy Colts fan. This current Dodger group is very much like the Peyton Manning led Colts teams that went 12-4 or 14-2 every year and then tanked in the playoffs. Both of these teams are/were frustrating beyond belief. Kershaw is the Manning of this Dodger team and time is running out- at least Manning got 1 championship win with the Colts.
norcalien - 5 years ago
Roberts is a players manager. We get that. He seems to, however, manage with his heart. Consistently making boneheaded decisions when the pressure is on. He's gotta go. Putting Kershaw in when he did was a monumental error. Should have pulled Kershaw after the first gopher ball. Stating that Kershaw is the greatest of his generation is valid by not in the past 3 years. Kershaw is a shell of himself. His pitching mechanics have played havoc on his body and he cannot deliver as he used to. Maeda was warmed up and has shown the ability to come in and do exactly what he did after the damage was done. Joe Kelly was a one hit wonder. He's more inconsistent than the weatherman. Eat that contract as well. We fans deserve better.
Edward - 5 years ago
The Dodgers need new leadership in their Dugout. What they currently have is just not working. Although many are to blame, Dave Roberts must be the one to go. Just going by the analytics he did not put the team in the best position to win. We all know Kershaw playoff history, yet you decide to leave him in there after he gives up the first homerun? Why would you do that? Then you let a pitcher who’s era jumpes up to over 8 after pitching one inning pitch a second inning. He pitched exactly how his numbers reflect by giving up a grand slam to end the season. Was Dave Roberts managing the game or watching it? If he would have made pitching changes based off the numbers and past history a loss like this would have been easier to take. But this has left so many of us angry and scratching our heads. This team is very talented still and so close. Please don’t waste this opportunity by letting Roberts continue to be its manager.
Nester Pavon - 5 years ago
We, the FAN, have paid the Dodgers in attendance, record setting goals, Listen to the Fans, we should have a say also. No more of these washed up players. Sign players of worth & get World Series each year. The Fans deserve it.. Management needs to try harder & believe in their fans suggestions. Thank you sir.
Miles from Tokyo - 5 years ago
Roberts would probably be a decent coach but not a manager. I have nothing more to say re Kershaw but Maeda is a winner in tough spots. Bad managerial decisions and overrated players plus Washington 'willing to win' made the difference.
David, this my opinion.
David, you have a good tender heart for your players.
That, I think interferes at Game time.
Need to put on your Manager David’s hat on and leave “ just David “ back in the locker room.
Only David, I think you need to think like General George S. Patten in every game, just a suggestion.
Advance with your Army, and finish with your tanks, the best to finish.
Best of Luck,
Respectfully, Betty
Sea Suntoes - 5 years ago
Dave Roberts is NOT a "Winner". Back in 2017, he mismanaged the World series vs. the Astros big time! There were many obvious mistakes made by Dave Roberts. Questionable decision making...when to and when not to pull pitchers out, etc. blunders even the layman who is not very well-versed with the game of baseball is able to visualize the outcome of a game.
Dodgers need to get a good, aggressive manager who can put the pieces together and "win" the big one!!!
Rose Cameron - 5 years ago
I’ve been a Dodger fan for over 40 years! I miss the days of Lasorda and all of the Dodger greats! I know there’s a problem when my 11 year old and I can make better decisions and see what is going on. Roberts may be a great person, but if you keep having the same bad outcome postseason after postseason, something or someone must change. Maybe he’s lost his objectivity or he simply is not up to the task. I’m sad for the team and the fans.
Jeff Green - 5 years ago
Everybody seems to forget game 3 of the series. Pinch-hitter after pinch-hitter got on base and Roberts looked like a genius as they ripped apart Corbin. Roberts has won the division four times in a row and has been to game 7 of the World Series two of the last four years. The front office, however, gifted him with a sub-par bullpen ... once again. I guarantee that a lot of the fans complaining about Kershaw initially thought it was a good idea to let him pitch the eighth inning. Same with Kelly in the 10th -- especially after mowing down three hitters on 12 pitches in the ninth. Yes, Maeda pitched brilliantly, but every manager in the game would have pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the eighth with the winning run already on base. Fans complaining about that would have said the move was brilliant if Freese drove in the go-ahead run.
Red Bakke - 5 years ago
I say keep Roberts. He cannot bat or play the field. That series was lost in the second game (a 4-2 loss). Dodgers batting in ninth bases loaded 3 balls and two strikes and Seager batting. Next pitch is in the dirt and he swings before the ball even gets to the plate and strikes out.That has been the story all season long. They all swing at pitches outside the plate or even in the dirt. If he would have taken that pitch it wold have been ball four and one run scores. Maybe the next batter could have gotten a hit and the Dodgers win the game. They cannot get hits with men on base. It has been that way for a long time. Also, what has to happened Bellinger? Hits all those homeruns in the regular season, but cannot even hit one or two in the playoffs. I know that Roberts made some bad decisions during the game, but like I said he cannot bat. So please lay off all the negativity comments about him. I have been a Dodgers fan for over 70 years
E J Trader III - 5 years ago
I’m 54 yrs old. At my age I know what works and what doesn’t. When I saw Kershaw in the bullpen I started pacing, while talking to other Dodger fans saying that Roberts was about to make a huge mistake. Father’s (aka Managers) are tough. They keep you on your toes. If Robert’s wants to be sweet and cuddly like a Grandpa... he should retire like one. GO DODGERS
Niranjan - 5 years ago
All of you are forgetting- with the cream of the crop players - Dave Roberts could not win the two all star games he “managed”
Please please Dave Roberts - do the Dodger fans a
favour and RESIGN. Managing is not in your genes
I am a Dodger fan and I predicted to my gym friends- Dodgers are not going anywhere. They laughed and I’m not laughing because I love the team
Let Pollock, Turner go. Get Rendon or Donaldson
Spend the bucks you make by raising ticket prices and parking
Get Bochi - convince him to “unretire”
EP - 5 years ago
BOOOOOOOOOOOO! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Worst baseball ever, worst team ever. They deserved to lose. Soft, entitled, lazy and uninteresting. By the way, I am a huge Dodger fan. BOO!!!!
PETER ALLING - 5 years ago
I DON'T LIKE THE WAY ROBERTS RUNS THE TEAM. IF THE SCORE IS TIED OR THE DODGERS ARE ONE RUN BEHIND AFTER THE 6TH INNING AND THEY HAVE NO OUTS WITH A MAN ON 3RD OR 2ND, THEN BUNT THE BALL. I SEE ABOUT 150 DODGER GAMES A YEAR. WHEN PEDERSON HITS A GROUNDER ON THE RIGHT FIELD SIDE OF SECOND BASE, HE TROTS HE DOESN'T RUN. (IN THE PLAYOFFS BUEHLER RAN FASTER THAN JOC.) I WISH THEY COULD GET MADDON. I WANTED THEM TO GET HIM WHEN HE LEFT TAMPA BAY. OR MAYBE BUD BLACK. CAN THE DODGERS TALK TO MADDON WITHOUT GETTING PERMISSION?
THEY NEED TO TRADE ONE OF THEIR GOOD YOUNG PLAYERS FOR A TOP MAN IN THE BULLPEN. WHEN I SAW KERSHAW WARMING UP FOR GAME 5, I DIDN'T LIKE IT. HOW MANY TIMES DOES HE GIVE UP RUNS IN THE FIRST 3 INNINGS HE PITCHES? I WOULD TAKE JOE KELLY OUT THE FIRST BATTER THAT WALKS OR GETS A HIT. I WOULD HAVE PUT IN ADAM KOLAREK. WHAT ABOUT. THANK YOU.
GatorA7 - 5 years ago
Dave Roberts over manages and needs to have a starting 8. Horrible pitching management. Kershaw is not a relief pitcher. Dodgers need to move on from Jansen, Kershaw, Kelly. They were once great but now over the hill. They will never again be elite, age always wins out. Roberts has totally failed in the post season and with his proven moves will continue to do so. Base hits matter and moving runners into scoring position requires managerial skill and hitting discipline and skill. Do any regular players know how to bunt? Requires practice and teaching in the pre season and a manager that demands it. Home runs or nothing aren’t always the answer. Dave Roberts is not a top tier manager.
Doug Potts - 5 years ago
I feel bad for Roberts most of all. He wanted to give Kershaw an opportunity to end the curse...and it backfired. He is a good man and will learn from this disaster!!! He deserves it.
Joe - 5 years ago
Time to clean house... 7 Division titles and no WS title.. Keep the young talent and lose the older vets, except for Freeze..
Also time to get rid of the "nice father figure of a manager (Roberts) and get a tough no nonsense head coach who knows how to manage his team and not be shy or afraid to pull a player or hurt someones ego...
John spear - 5 years ago
My Rams are 3/3
My Dodgers are done
Now on to Kings and Lakers
I saw all of this watching game on TV
In Dallas where my wife had to come for heart surgery
I saw it all coming with Kershaw after Roberts let him do another inning. You take people out on high note. Then 2 innings with Mr Boston
Terrible for fans. Too many strikeouts. No production from middle lineup. I would trade a couple pieces like pollack and Taylor and Kershaw and hill
gene - 5 years ago
roberts must go. Pollack i have always liked but that series was rge worse by any person i have ever seen. Bellinger must perform in the postseason if he doesnt his value is a defensive replacement. oh did i say roberts must go. I am available ro manage for less money if the dodger manager job just requires you to shake hands with a player who hits a home run. oh yea roberts must go
Terry Collins - 5 years ago
I’ve been a a Dodger fan all my life. I’m 63. All I will do is repeat what others are saying Fire Roberts
Mike Newman - 5 years ago
Dave stays. Help him, when Kersh got the first strikeout to end the inning, he celebrated and check out of the game, you can’t bring him out again, he disconnected, lost his edge. Same thing with Kelly, got the first three, celebrated leaving the field, he was done. Bellinger, Seger, Pollick, where’s your batting coaches ? Watching pitches til you have 2 strikes, leaves you 1 pitch for success, numbers work for batting too, not just fielding, use them ! A lot of the players on this Dodger team , While they sometimes are successful hitting, a lot of the time, they look like the swing the bat with their eyes closed ! Predictable bases loaded no out’s, 1 sr guy strikes out, 2 nd guy strikes out, 3rd guy pops up, no score. Check out this year, see how many times that reallyhappened !
Elaina GRAVELLE - 5 years ago
I have been a Fan 4ever. My thoughts: DR should have gone after his Yu Darvish fiasco. Wasn t Dusty Baker available then? It would have been worth a try and great for fan morale. Kersh got his out. Let him die a hero! It's time for Mike Scosia. And, Oh yeah, as long as upper management only cares about MAKING IT TO (vs WINNING) post season, so PRICES can be INCREASED, we fans will continue to be heart broken by such foolish faux pas blunders (or maybe that is the plan, money wise). ....Keep the fans hoping for "MAYBE NEXT YEAR". But...Did u see the mass exit from Dodger Stadium after the grand slam? Maybe the fans are fed up. I am and it s not from eating too many Dodger Dogs or Brooklyn Pizza. So so so sad to say the least. Who ever came up with the 2019 Dodgers bleed blue slogan was prophetic, n'est pas? There's a lot of it all over L.A. today. If upper management slips in it and bumps their collective heads, do you think they will get WOKE? That's meant to be a joke, so I can leave this with a tearful smile. (Blue tears of course). My Billie Jean King bobble head has them too. And it has now become the high-lite of my 2019 Dodger season. Amen.????????
bill bookston - 5 years ago
Yes, Dave should go. He's a wonderful person and a great manager. But sometimes things just need to change to move on. I'm sure he'll do well wherever he lands. But we need to move on.
jim Zolin - 5 years ago
What has happened to Corey Seager? Since he has returned from his operations he isn't a shadow of his former self. Could it be that something was tweaked during his operations that shouldn't have been? Bellinger was also missing in action. Unfortunately, we have another 4 years of Pollock to look forward to. Signing a player to a 5 year contract with his past history of ailments is questionable, and Kelly is another example of a pitcher with questionable stats. Did we sign Kelly because he pitched well against us in the WS. Did we even look at his bad ERA stats with Boston? I won't dwell over Kershaw's appearance. Everything that can be said , has been said. We dearly missed Verdugo during the NLS. In regards to Roberts, I'm for getting rid of him. I could have managed the Dodgers with the team they had this year, and probably for a lot less than they paid Roberts. It just proves that nice guys don't always win. You also have to be able to make the right decisions especially in the playoffs when you're in the spotlight.
Phil Johnson - 5 years ago
Yes, Roberts should go. So should upper management.
Why can’t they ever come up with a quality three man starting rotation?
Why spend all that money on A.J. Pollock. The last thing they needed was another out fielder.
Well, at least they are not going to embarrass us again by blowing another World Series.
Scott - 5 years ago
Yes good bye Mr Roberts. Mike Scioscia will not work for current GM and is the reason he left Angels...Mike Scioscia would have won this playoff series just by management skill alone. Maybe the Dodgers need to platoon Mgrs ....Analytics work during the long 162 game season, HRs work well during those games against poor pitching. The NL West is weak so LA record is inflated. Playoffs come against much better pitching and HRs become fewer and this is how you built your team To fail. MLB is not fantasy baseball and human emotions are a big part of things and how people perform -Analytics does not have a column or line item for this. Dave Roberts does what he his told by front office and everything looks great when playing fantasy baseball ...The LA Dodgers talking points are always about team And they want players to platoon... maybe they need one last platoon in the position of Mgr now that would be cutting edge!
Been Dodgers fan since 1941 when I was 5 years old and Mickey Owens dropped a third strike leading the Yankees to win the series. In our situation recall that Charley Dressen helped blow the 51-53 seasons and was finally fired replaced by Walter Alston who was a great field manager. We also fired Don Mattingly for post season failures. Corey Bellinger's post season problems remind me of Duke Snider and his problems when he was a young outfielder and that the fans stuck behind Gil Hodges when he had no hits in a 7 game world series .If we stood behind Kershaw and Bellinger like that perhaps their problems would fade away like Gil's did instead of stomping on Kershaw's shirts by driving over them after the game. Gil had a successful series the next year. Dodgers should consider signing Joe Maddon who is a great field manager and has had success with Tampa Bay and the Cubs in winning league chanpionships and a world series. You have a very fine column. Reminds me of Tommy Holmes with the Brooklyn Eagle back when Dem Bums were a Brooklyn landmark. Get some sleep..
Shortly after 8:02 p.m. I texted to a friend, "This ending is either going to be incredibly disappointing or great joy for Clayton and the fans." It wound up being both. His 3 pitch strikeout was great joy. His back to back home run pitches were incredibly disappointing. However, the blame for this series loss and the lost of the World Series in '17 is at the feet of Dave Roberts.
We know how he screwed up the '17 World Series in the first game with his lousy manager of pitchers. This year he did it again. I told my friend that the day before the game Roberts took on the role of a Hollywood Producer and Director. As a producer he decided on a movie called "The Piggyback Game". In his mind Clayton was going to piggy back on Walker no matter the situation. Then he put on his director hat and the horror began.
Roberts got lucky in that when Clayton came in was actually a good scene, using movie terms. Getting Eaton on three pitches made his movie look great, so far. Then he got to thinking of academy awards and put his star back in another scene for which he had not read the script. Good actors read the script and rehearse their lines. Clayton rehearsed his first scene but didn't know the lines for his second scene.
When the top of the 8th began, the director Roberts had the choice of sticking with an aging actor or bringing in the fresh new reliever with nasty stuff. He went with sentiment, like John Wayne in many of the movies he should have not made at the end of his career. Two pitches later and the season was gone. Maeda came in and struck out the side. Director Roberts took a great movie with a 3-1 score and turned it into a disappointing 3-3 tie.
It got worse. He goes with Kelly for a great 9th. Nasty stuff, like in game one. As you pointed out Kelly's ERA in 2 inning efforts is over 8. Did the director read the Playbill? No. He lets Kelly start the 10th. After a couple of pitches little league kids and my 92 year-old mother could tell Kelly had lost his command. But the director keeps watching the scenes play out and yells "Cut. Print." In the meantime, our top lefty and righty are standing in the pen wondering what the hell is Roberts thinking.
So the movie winds up a flop. No academy awards. No sequel. Instead lots of blame and rightly deserved. A good director would have used Clayton for Eaton, Maeda for the 8th and (I can't believe I am saying this) Kenley for the save. That is how you direct a great movie. Hopefully Roberts will be moving on but it won't happen. I have no problem with Friedman as he has brought in a lot of excellent players that were thrown away by other teams. It is Roberts who is lethal as a manager, lethal for we the fans.
Which prospective manager has the best track record of managing his pitching staff? Hire him!!
jim foster - 5 years ago
The Dodger problem can be solved in one easy departure, Dave Roberts. Dave is a great guy but a poor manager especially in situations that do not require and MIT graduate. Do not send Kershaw back after he strikes out to end an inning.
The crowd is excited Kershaw is elated let him stay in the dugout and feel great.
Bring in Kenta he strikes out the side
You are ahead going into the top of the ninth ahead 3 to 1. Now use your bullpen to save the game,
That is baseball management the way it is suppose to work
Now work on the office to fill the holes AJ should have been benched after the first game
Replace the Manager with a guy who knows how to use his players not on who he likes the best
but who will be the best for the situation.
Dodger fan
voted the best in 1964
Dee Brown - 5 years ago
I consider myself a loyal and true Dodger fan. I watch every game to the very end. I like all the players young and old and accept their highs and lows.... after all they are human. That being said I have been unhappy with Dave Roberts for a few months now. My husband has been a high school coach for many years and one thing he always says is that a head coach is not a friend. In my opinion Roberts has been caught up in being a friend and cheerleader and this shaded his decisions. Last night’s game was a glaring example. Roberts is a friend to all but maybe that’s the problem.
Thomas Eaves - 5 years ago
The Dodgers appear to have great chemistry but have repeatedly failed to achieve at the highest level. Roberts is a great guy, but after watching as many Dodger games as possible since his arrival, it is clear to me that he is a poor on-the-field and game level decision maker. He has allowed Kershaw to fail, knowing very well that he doesn't respond to post-season pressure very well and has shown that he has become home-run prone over the past two years. Kelley was a huge mistake. He repeatedly threw curve after curve into the center on the zone, telling me that he had no confidence in his fast ball -- which is what took the Dodgers and other teams out last year. Pollock was a huge financial risk that his own history was demonstrating he was injury prone and decreasing in performance. The Dodgers already had outfielders that were as good or better.
I could go on about Bellinger and others but the team's own training of the "great upper-cut" swing as hard as you can whip the bat is the root cause of his and other's failure as the season progressed. Teach these talented young players how to go to the opposite field and bunt. With the shift that teams use today and with the speed of Bellinger and a couple of other kids, a little bunt away from the shift is going to be a hit.
Oh well, another wait until next year with the same old mess at the end. Management is the root that needs replacing.
Dave - 5 years ago
How many games this season did the Dodgers start out with runs in the first & second innings with nothing for the rest of the game.
With Bellinger on 3rd late in the game, Rendon was playing way behind him. He was almost half way down the line with no one paying attention. A bunt toward 3rd would have scored him easily and the rest of the conversations would be moot.
Roberts gut needs to be removed along with him. We need a young manager with experience in today's game, not someone who has managed in the dark ages.
We need a consistent bat in the middle of the batting order, bullpen help and brains upstairs.
Glenn - 5 years ago
Roberts should probably stay as a regular season Manager, but he needs a back-up manager who takes over once the Dodgers have clinched the regular season, a relief manager for the post-season.
Alex Verdei - 5 years ago
Your whole article is right on, I've been saying that for 5 years now.
Kershaw lost the first one to Houston, we gave him a 5 run cushion and he wasted it. He melts, Great guy, but can't handle pressure. Roberts, nice guy, not an MLB manager, he's lost, I could have a hundred wins with this much talent. I say, what I have been saying for a while now, trade Kershaw for two nerves of steel pitchers, trade Jansen for a reliable stopped, and please fire Roberts, and grab Madison while he's still available. One more thing to all the ones that say we should be fine with 7 consecutive NL WEST titles, we should have 5 consecutive WS titles!
Thomas Richardson - 5 years ago
Kershaw can no longer be trusted in playoff situations, too many home runs, use him to get them to the playoffs, but leave him off the postseason roster. Love Kershaw, but if he has a problem with this, trade him, get something for him, even if it is a salary dump a la Matt Kemp.
Joe Kelly should be traded or released, same for Pollock. Keep Maeda in the bullpen.
Fire Roberts, because what good does it do to win 106 or even 162 games, but lose a best of 5 or 7 series in the postseason.
Dodgers have a great young group, they will bounce back but it will take time to put the pieces together but Friedman has to be all in on getting it done.
Pablo Garza - 5 years ago
Dodgers have to stop trying to make Kershaw the hero. He's demonstrated time and again he ain't gonna deliver. Just don't do it. This isn't tee ball. Not everyone gets a trophy.
Raymond Parra - 5 years ago
Famous Quote : "Failure is NOT AN OPTION" I like Dave Roberts but to have failed multiple times is very much unacceptable. Change can be good, in this case, CHANGE is necessary. He definitely needs to be replaced.
Raymond Parra - 5 years ago
Famous Quote : "Failure is NOT AN OPTION" I like Dave Roberts but to have failed multiple times is very much unacceptable. Change can be good, in this case, CHANGE is necessary. He definitely needs to be replaced.
Asher Garber - 5 years ago
All this talk about bad pitching moves doesn't change the fact that the Dodgers can't score more than 3 runs in elimination games. One more run manufactured during innings 3-9 last night, and no one is complaining.
larry goren - 5 years ago
fire everyone !!! I have no doubt that despite having their best run in the franchises history, the unnamed, unknown next guy will do much better.
Ed - 5 years ago
Congratulations to Dodgers management and players for another great year That’s 7 in a row. The playoffs are always a crap shot and more times than not the best team does not win the series. The management and team have done a terrific job for the last seven years. No other Dodger team or manager in team history has taken us to the playoffs 7 years in a row. Bottom line is that I will bet you that Mike Trout and the Angels would love to have half the success that we have enjoyed. Let us celebrate the great success we have enjoyed.
Larry Stevens - 5 years ago
. Being a nice guy is not enough.. Need a manager that makes the hard decisions even if it upsets his favorite players. He might actually gain their respect .Fire Roberts and hire Madden or Scioscia. Should have hired Scioscia when Lasorda retired. Bellinger ,Pollick and Seeger are choke artists. We need players that don't melt under pressure. Kershaw is finished. Go out and get a number one or two starter. Get someone to set up and close. This rates up there with the most painful loss in the 60 some years I have been a Dodger fan. Please Dodger management do something so they win a World Series before I die.
Larry Lindsay - 5 years ago
Of course Roberts needs to be fired.
He managed his way into two world series losses. Both world series could have been won, especially the Astros series. With experience you think that he would have gotten better, but NO he saved the worst for this year. Get a new GM. Get rid of Jansen, Kelly, Baez, Hill, Pollack,and most of those still on the DL. Then hire a real baseball manager. Madden, or Scioscia, or other real managers available. Maybe even trade Kershaw.
Big changes MUST be made.
David - 5 years ago
Dodger fans...first down Henessey and stop overreacting!. Lets not overreact.
Roberts is and always has been a great people manager...thats his strength..
Friedman has made some great acquisitions (e.g. Muncy, Friese, Martin)...and did a mirCulous farm system job.
Given that...and 7-staight playoff appearances, neither should go. Don't overreact Kasten.
I do believe:
1) Obtain another high end reliever like Felipe Vasquez...whose market value (like Araldis Chapman, 2 yrs ago) is at an MLB low.
2) Release Floro, Kelley...and a couple others,
3) Promote Rios (3B), Lux, May, Gosselin, Beaty, Ruiz(C)
4) Let Ryu go to the Yankees.
5) Have patience with Bellinger and Seager aa still-young players.
6) Let Kershaw and Jansen watch video and reinvent themselves). Let aging Turner inestigate knee surgery, yoga or hydrotherapy for rehabbin knees.
7) Let recycled managers like Scoccia and Madden find jobs elsewhere...they are not magicians for lack of player execution.
8)....and finally give credit to the Dodgers for a great
year. How many teams were left only watching?
Scott - 5 years ago
Roberts stays because he is even more successful after three years than Lasorda was (no playoffs at all in 1979). And Lasorda is a HOF manager. But not enough objectivity with Clayton Kershaw. Hats off to Washington - Strasburg did what Kershaw usually does - homers and three runs given up early and then hold. Rendon hit a ball that was good enough low; the Soto pitch was grooved. No way Kershaw sould have faced Soto and probably not Rendon, either, because Clayton is predictable, around the plate (does not want to get behind or walk a guy) and is not fast enough to get it by decent hitters. You did notice he started with the curve on Rendon? It is only going to work for our deserving hero when he will throw that curve enough to open hitters so hitters cannot know what is coming.
Ron - 5 years ago
Managers don’t always win games but they can sure lose them. Bye bye dave
Chuck Wronski - 5 years ago
Mike Scioscia!!
Barry De Jasu - 5 years ago
Dave Roberts may be a very good guy, but he relies way too much on metrics. Strangely in yesterday's game his pitching choices were based on other things. His choices were just wrong. I have always thought Kershaw to be a great pitcher. But in the recent couple of years he has lost some of his glow- control and speed. He has become a good pitcher after the 2nd inning. To use him in relief yesterday was just wrongheaded. Kershaw has given up so many 1st inning HR's. Thus he should have not have been used. he did end the 6th with a strikeout. He appearance should have ended there. Maeda has been so good. In fact he came in after Kershaw and struck out the side. And why after just K'ing the side he was not allowed to pitch the 7th. Instead very unpredictable Joe Kelly was used and produced a big disaster.
The Dodgers seldom have a small ball game to go to when their power game fails.Bunting and usually stealing bases, (though Bellinger did steal 2 last night,) play no roll in their game. Every game entire sides of the field are left uncovered in shifts. Except for an occasional unsuccessful bunt attempt few efforts are made to exploit these gaps. The Dodgers have been a very successful homerun hitting team. But when the homers are replaced with so many strikeouts they often seem managed without an alternative game.
Bill Livingstone - 5 years ago
The Dodgers lead their division by, what, 21 games? Yeah, time to get a new manager, lol...
Jimbocho - 5 years ago
they have the horses they should not be losing to Washington. Roberts seems like such a good guy, but they can't afford to keep him as manager...got to try something different at this point
Roberts should be fired. Friedman should go and at most give him a one-year deal and no raise. Stan Kasten should be put on notice. Trade --or try to trade--Kelly, Pollock, Pederson. Make a run at Gerrit Cole and/or Rendon. If you fail with Cole, resign Ryu. Then your 2020 rotation looks like this: Buehler, Ryu, Kershaw, May, Gonsolin.
The 2019 postseason mistakes began with Kershaw starting Game 2 instead of Ryu. That led to the other dominoes falling.
Brian Paark - 5 years ago
Kershaw did his job, got the team and the fans pumped up, Roberts shouldn't have put him back in.
He is a great pitcher, a great regular season pitcher, Roberts knows how he performs in play offs.
Maeda did what he was supposed to do, Kolarek should have been in, not Kelly.
Is it wrong to take hitters from line up if they struggle? Seager and Bellinger.
Fans are speechless. Fans would have made better calls.
Ernesto Garcia - 5 years ago
Dave Roberts needs to go! He set Kershaw up for failure. Knowing Kershaw's playoff struggles, why would you have him come back to start the 8th? Taking Hill out after 4 great innings in game 2 of the world series versus the Astros, Having Darvish Start Game 7 of the same series, Bringing in Madson vs the red sox in the world series last year. Roberts doesn't hit and run, call steals, or use his bullpen personal wisely. He is the Kershaw of managers, good in the regular season but bad decision-maker under playoff pressure. PLEASE BRING MIKE SCIOSCIA. Thank Kershaw for his service, but he as to accept that he is no longer an ace, accept a demotion to be the 3rd starting pitcher in the rotation or be traded. TILL NEXT YEAR DODGER BLUE!!
Jesus Sanchez - 5 years ago
Why wasn't Russel Martin in t he starting line up last night after having a tremendous game in Washington?
Jorge Osiris Suarez - 5 years ago
Change the team to pitching, defense and speed or short the fences. Replace the manager.
gene ward - 5 years ago
Seriously, the Dodgers had HUGE holes in the bullpen that was evident as far back as last year. Everyone knew they needed a closer-type or they were not going to win the World Series. Sure, they had the hitting and some good starters, but no way did they have the arms to WIN the series -- which was supposedly the goal this year. So yes, Roberts gets the blame for repeating the same pitcher mistakes he makes every post-season, but the only guy who had control over fixing the GLARING problem on the roster was Friedman and he whiffed. Whether it's imposed by the billionaire bean counters or not, Friedman still has a Tampa Bay mindset --- build a team economically that 's good enough to get to the postseason, because anything can happen at that point. Until the Dodgers build a team DESIGNED TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES this futility will just repeat and repeat and repeat.
Steven French - 5 years ago
When Bellinger, Seager, and Pollack perform as they did this series, the outcome is not surprising. Bellinger is not the MVP. Feel bad for Kershaw. His Hall of Fame induction will lack post season validation. Wanted to see Freese and Martin on the field last night and a manager who made better bullpen choices. Where was Larry Sherry when we needed him?
Mike Rowe - 5 years ago
If we can get Joe Madden then let Roberts go in a heartbeat...
Peter Trevino - 5 years ago
I’ll give Rendon credit for going down and getting that ball, but with Soto it’s like he knew he’d get a slider inside. Are their scouts better than ours? Did he know he’d get that ‘two strike backdoor slider’?
Maybe Rick Honeycutt needs to be evaluated...
Delbert Nishimoto - 5 years ago
Rookie catcher Will Smith should be on the bench watching and learning. What happened to Russell Martin? All teams in the play-offs have senior - experienced catchers. Suzuki, Molina, Sanchez...they control their pitchers.
Highly recommend firing Dave Roberts.....
Dave Andrade - 5 years ago
No. Roberts made some obvious mistakes. But with every decision there is a 50% chance it is going to be wrong. He is well liked, always positive, has kept the Dodgers as contenders throughout his reign. It is not his fault that Bellinger, Seager, and Pollock went MIA. I do not fault him for leaving Kershaw in. He's your third best pitcher, but in that situation I would rather have him out there then Ryu, who has not been used in relief. With a two run lead, needing 7 outs to advance, I'd run Kershaw out there in a heart beat. The pitch to Rendon was not a bad pitch. It was not even a strike. It was almost on the ground. Give Rendon credit. He went down and got it. The pitch to Soto was just too good. It was not Robert's fault. And for Joe Kelly, that is the one move that Roberts can be criticized for. He has not been a good two inning pitcher ever this year. But he was given Kelly as the savior of the bullpen. That was just a bad decision. Or at least it sure looks that way right now. Maybe the Dodgers should have kept him off the roster, since Kelly didn't pitch down the stretch so they didn't really know what they would get from him. None of this is Roberts' fault. He had to work with the cards he was dealt. He got them 106 wins. Just because he lost one game, doesn't negate what was a very successful season and the fact that Roberts has led them to the playoffs each year.
Bill Johnson - 5 years ago
The biggest mistake the Dodgers ever made was not hiring Mike Scioscia. And Ned Colletti should return as GM!
Daniel Rodriguez - 5 years ago
I think the Dodgers should fire Roberts, because he always knows how to jack up the lead when we have it, for example. He should’ve had let walker finish the 8th inning n then bring out Kenta or Julio or Ryu to pitch for the 9th inning n we could’ve had won game 5 and advance to play the cardinals. Look at the game 2 situation when Kershaw pitch and we lost that game, everyone already knows all he’s pitches n they know that he doesn’t have it like he did when he started with the Dodgers, So Yes loose Roberts and get the real Dodgers Manager Soon Mike Social or at least the cubs manager and as well go after verlander n trade Kershaw and Jansen and Hill keep the rest of the pitchers and hopefully next year we will win the World Series
jesus sanchez - 5 years ago
Watching Dave Robert manage a baseball game is like watching a horror movie, in horror movies people always make bad decisions just like Dave Robert does.
jerry goldfeder - 5 years ago
wow! read all comments and yes i've had enough. hunjin should have started game 2 Kershaw should not be used since he takes 2or3 innings to get going in a good rythem . Kolerk and Kenta were hot, use them! Cody, must leave as clean up, put him 6or 7 till he warms up. what did he hit in second half, around 260? hate to say it , new manager needed, can't handle play offs. mistake after mistake. it's all been said except that i'm tired of same old same old. Fan since 1953. Just might become Angel fan. Last felt this way when Mike Piazza was sent to Marlins and on to Mets. In hall as a met! Kersh never as good as Sandy Koufax was, won a world Series, that's proof in pudding. To hate is wrong but discusted is how i feel.
David Skidmore - 5 years ago
Dave Roberts is a piece of the larger issue, that being the front office of Friedman. This is a move by ownership I never really understood. Friedman STILL acts like he's running a small market club. Yes he found plenty of players (even though they all seem to be outfielders), he continues to hold on to players he should dump and for whatever his reason refuses to assemble a major league bullpen. I've been bleeding Dodger Blue my whole life (good and bad) but this hurts. Worst of all... They have to know the problem but have an aversion to fix it. Go Dodgers
I would ask Mr. Roberts to step aside if the LAD are able to hire Mike Scioscia.
mike fitzgerald - 5 years ago
I share the disappointment, disillusionment--even agony. I have been a Dodger fan for 50 years and this game stung. I agree with many of the comments and criticisms (and it almost makes me ill), but at the same time I think everyone needs a reality check. Being objective, at the outset of the playoffs I did not feel good about this team's chances. First, anyone who has been a baseball fan for more than five minutes knows the playoffs are a crap-shoot. How many times does the best team win? Even in the best circumstances, they would only be slight favorites--and this wasn't the best circumstances. Which leads to the second point. This was not a great team. Glossy record in a mediocre division in a mediocre league. Played flat most of the second half. This team was built for the regular season. Depth, flexibility and versatility are great over 162 games, but dont matter as much in a 5 game series. Playoffs are about star players. Who are the stars? The best player (Bellinger) started off way above his head and raised unreasonable expectations. His second half was closer to reality. Aside from Turner, too many streaky players and not enough consistency. Last, and most important, great pitching wins. The bullpen has been a problem all year and not much was done to fix it. For the starters, while a solid regular season rotation, there was only one hammer (Buehler--usually).Kershaw is way past his prime and Ryu is a finesse pitcher whose effectiveness is a coin flip. The Nationals had three. In a 5 game series with two off days, those guys pitched in every game. In those cases, the team with the hammers usually win. So go ahead and point to game 5 and roast Roberts if you want--no love lost here--but I think you risk missing the big picture: this team just wasn't good enough.
Bob M - 5 years ago
Growing up here in L. A. loving the Doyers but I’ve had enough. I’m tired of the Doyer propaganda before a game during the game (homer Orel Hershiser) and guess what nothing to show. I have begun watching more Angel games, in time they will improve but at least I don’t have to constantly hear just how great the Doyers are. Yes......Roberts must go
Larry - 5 years ago
Let us not forget Yu. After his terrible first game performance, Roberts not only brings him back, but lets him in after the first scoring which was enough to lose.
Last night based on his previous performance, I would have used Martin. Did Roberts fall asleep on pitching?
Maeda is a multi inning guy, Kelly isn’t.
Given the talent a good manager should win. Time to forget Mr. nice guy, move him on.
Burton Green - 5 years ago
Doc's primary concern is his relationship with his players. In game 5 Doc fell in love with the idea of a 3 time Cy Young former MVP coming out of the bullpen instead of facing the reality that his fastball is 89 mph. Doc has forgotten who buys the tickets, who he REALLY answers to -- The Fans, not the players. And because he chose displeasing a player instead of pleasing US -- Yes -- he needs to move on.
Jim DeBiase - 5 years ago
I am still sick over last night's loss. I have been a Dodger fan for 35 years and last night was one of the worst losses I have ever experienced. We had all the ammunition but the guns jammed. Robert's continued lineup changes are frustrating to say the least. These players fans and front office deserve more than that! We all know Kershaw was once great but 89 - 92 will not get it done. Kelly is not reliable and was left to bleed out all by himself without a visit???
This team was supposed to be the best ever but we will never be great without momentum and consistency. Kershaw, Jansen, Kelly ,Pollack should not be dodgers either Robert's they have all had their chances. And we are home without a trophy yet again!! Just plain sickening!
Soscia is still your man.....bye Friedman....Zionism sucks..
Each year, my level of excitement about the Dodgers wains. I thought about it last year, and it came down to this for me: I was a huge Dodger fan because they played good baseball, had the greatest baseball announcer ever, were run by Tommy Lasorda, and had the record-setting infield of Garvey, Lopes, Russell, and Cey.
Well guess what? Three of those things are gone, and I'm tired of just "good" baseball. Just like so many others, I'm really sick and tired of a team that has a front office that seems to still hold to the Branch Rickey theory of just having a very good team to make money. Houston, Boston, The GIANTS and YANKEES are all known for doing whatever it takes to win a World Series. The Dodgers history of free agency is terrible. Either they get big names that under produce; or the let producing free agents go elsewhere to pick up a ring (Talk to Redman about that).
I guess I'm just sick of watching "good" baseball. Last year when the Sox beat the Dodgers, I made my mind up to have them as my favorite team over the Dodgers (I've been a huge Red Sox fan since the days of Yaz). They make it clear that they want to win it all.
Do I hate the Dodgers? Nope. Do I get excited about them anymore? Nope. Until they get a front office that makes it absolutely clear that they want to win it all; and have a manager who doesn't put a dunce cap on in every post-season; the Dodgers are nothing but a nice team to watch. And Kershaw needs to go. I didn't want him back last year because I knew (like everyone else) that he wouldn't get it done in the post season. But the "Dodger Way" will keep him because he's "the face of the team". If decent, non-championship baseball is the norm; then indeed Kershaw is the face of the Dodgers.
Long time dodger fan loosing enthusiasm based on the following facts, poor management decisions , keeping players for personal reasons that can not perform and keeping capable players on hold when the goal is to win a world championship baseball series. Hey dodger management the loyal fans pay your salaries and more this is not the current White House . It seems that 31 years ago was the last time Los Angeles had a world championship. Boston snapped their curse. We have the Chavez ravine curse I suppose the older fans know what I am talking about ugly events in history I have friends that were pushed out of their homes to build dodger stadium sad sad history.
dave roberts was a good ballplayer, he is and has been horrible as a manager. i have seen games where an umpire makes a bad call which puts a guy on first . next guy gets a broken bat single, and roberts pulls the pitcher. kershaw got the out they needed, why leave him in when you know he has been prone to give up the long ball this year. where was kenley jansen? the dodger hitters are good, but they are also dumb. i learned the game a long time ago. as a hitter it was my job to get on base by any means i could.i have been a dodger fan since 1946, and i have never seen a dumber group. the other teams statistics tell them where a guy usually hits the ball and the load one side of the infield or the other. in the past that would be ab invitation to any smart hitter to lay down a bunt and take the free base. bot these guys, they want to try and beat the shift. everything is against them. look at their pathetic batting averages. their best home run hitter had about 40, but these big power swingers going for the long ball really hurts the team, roberts makes horrible decisions with the pitchers and has no control or idea what to do with the hitters. HE NEEDS TO GO
In order for changes to be made, stop going to games, don't buy or renew season tickets .Cancel Spectrum untill all cable ,dish and direct get a fair deal. These thieves are raking in money and don't want to spend it to deliver a WS CHAMPIONSHIP!
Kershaw hasn’t made the transition from power pitcher to finesse pitcher. Plus Roberts is a godawful manager when it comes to the pitchers. Remember when he took out Hill?
All season long even winning 106 games I always felt like there was something wrong. They managed to lose a lot of games they should have won. The National league was so weak and the dodgers were just dominating. The post season should have been a cake walk, Dave Roberts would not stay with the hot hand, Freese, Martin, Hernandez and Maeda were all having a good post season, doesn’t make any sense not to go with them. I’ve been a fan since 1955
Not Dave Roberts - but, the whole team of tech geeks in this office/clubhouse needs to be sent to the Apple Store. Sheesh! It took over 30 years for Big Blue to beat a chess grandmaster, how long do you think it will take for the computer addicts like Bill James and Brian Kenny and the like to triumph over the baseball minds? A decade? Maybe longer?
Every solution to the Dodger debacle that this writer pointed out was a baseball solution, not a statistics-solution. No one on a laptop can tell you it was time for Kershaw to be finished after the 7th. No one on a laptop can tell you it was time for Jansen, unless he/she was looking at salaries! Dave Roberts is a baseball-savvy guy - remember him in the 2004 playoffs. No computer geek can advise you to steal 2nd on Mariano Rivera. Don't hamstring him with this nonsense, tell him to MANAGE. He'll fix this.
There is only one and only one reason game 5 was lost. It is the problem the Dodgers have had since day one. That is the bullpen. NOTHING WAS DONE TO FIX IT. Band aids don't work.
Richard Montagna
Let me start by saying by saying I'v been a Dodgers fan since 1949.I totally Bleed Dodger Blue.That said I cant disagree with Huston's assessment on Dave Roberts. Right on the money. He must go As for Friedman I loss all respect for him when he let Zack Greinke gehers away Unforgivable!!! I say hire Mike Scioscia to manage. The Team should also play more small ball As foe Honey he did a great job with the pitchers.It wasen't Him who made the dumb moves. that's the end of my rant GO DODGERS !!!!!!!!!
After the last two years isn't it evident that the manager needs to go. Many poor decisions on his part.
Now is not the time to think about firing the manager. There were wrong decisions made, no doubt. Clayton should never be put in relief. This situation should have been planned before the game started.
It appears we are not using statisics in pitching and matchups. We should have at least two closers before the season starts.
I have been a Dodger fan since Brooklyn, do not plan to change
Our timing was barely off to get Maddon in the year we got Roberts. It's still a little off, but it's not too late! Maddon is what we need. He's a genius.
Been a Dodgers fan since the Brooklyn days and Jackie Robinson's debut. I believe Dave Roberts is a great manager during the season BUT does not possess the giftedness of being a post season one. Reasoning: Patterns reveal reality! Look at his pattern! Tommy was BOTH. I believe it is time for a new manager to come on the scene for the betterment of helping the team forget the past and enter into a NEW beginning. The same is for us fans. Let's turn the page to a new chapter in the Dodgers history.
A word to the Dodgers heads that they almost did. Why don't they do what no other team in my memory has done. What is that? Think outside the normal baseball box and secure or develop two, yes 2, closers! A novel idea! The Dodgers came close to this when they were about to sign Chapmen but ended it because of his domestic situation. Jansen's ego will survive. A righty and lefty combo would be dynamic! BUT 2 would give sufficient rest and time off for each.
Need to make changes: Dave Roberts needs to go, not just for post season failures but for all the regular season mismanagement. Look at all the times he’s stuck with Kenley when it’s obvious he’s not the same closer he once was, look at how hot Verdugo was as a replacement for the injured Pollack, as soon as Pollack returned Verdugo became a once in awhile fill in.
Roberts continues to play guys out of position and takes them out of they’re normal roles : Joc at 1b/ Pollack in CF, when he’s not even your 3rd best defensive outfielder/ all the bullpen: May starts today and bullpen guy tomorrow/ Kelly enters in the 5th inning today and 8th inning guy tomorrow/ Urias starter to bullpen 3rd thru 7th inning guy/ Maeda being pulled after getting 2or 3 outs when he can go numerous innings and using Kelly numerous innings when he’s a 1 inning pitcher. Let’s not even get into how he will play the guy who’s ice cold and sit the guy who’s had the hot hand.
Roberts keeps putting guys in a position to fail ( Kershaw ) it’s time to move on. We need a proven manager who can win the big game, stay away from Scioscia as he wasn’t the architect behind the one WS the Angels won, bring in Joe Girardi or Joe Maddon, guys who have won the big game.
We all knew this was a good but flawed team, especially when it came to the bullpen... that has been obvious since very early in the season. But the offense has become a case of feast or famine, especially over the last couple months. The Dodgers believed the long ball was their salvation to everything... poor pitching? We'll just hit some more homers. They suffered the fate of the homer reliant teams... run into a good pitching opponent that can limit your home run production and you're going to suffer because they can't/won't/aren't allowed to try to manufacture runs the old-fashioned "small ball" way. Live by the homer, and die by the lack there of. As for Roberts, if he doesn't have the guts to try to lead this team the right way, then he needs to go... kowtowing to the suits in the front office means you get the blame when it all falls apart. I get it that baseball is a business and a winning season put fannies in the seats, but fans don't care about the owner's pockets... to us that believe this is a championship capable team, this is just another losing season.
I have been a Dodger fan since 1951, and the end of that season still rankles me. but that's another story. Chuck Dressen was the Dodger manager in 1951, 1952 & 1953.....the Dodgers did well all three years but lost in a playoff in 1951 and in the World Series in 1952 & 1953. The team's record in 1953 was 105 & 49. Dressen wanted something more than a one year contract after 1953 and when he was told no, he resigned. I say this because it is not unheard of to change managers after three excellent years. Let's allow history to repeat itself,.....for all of the reasons stated by other folks on this page, let Roberts go. and get a manager who can actually manage a ball game.
Can't blame Roberts for Seager and Bellinger not performing AGAIN
Too many people in the front office playing with their lap tops. Fire Roberts, go back to the old baseball methods, shelve the 'shift' (remember playing 'over the line' as a kid?) and get Kevin Kennedy in as manager.
2017 still lingers as well. Kenta Maeda was the go to guy to start game 7 and history does repeat itself -- Maeda was the 'go to guy' after the Kershaw 7th. Yes, Roberts should know better -- Kershaw has been shaky the first inning or so over the last 4 weeks. Such a blunder!
He is not a good manager.
I became a Dodger fan in 1959, the year they moved to LA...and beat the White Sox in the World Series. I could tell you the name of any player by the number on his jersey. The game was different then.
There were several years that I watched Walt Alston stand in the dugout while his pitcher walked 5 or 6 batters in a row. Now I see Roberts do the same thing. Alston and Roberts made it an art form. They can get to the post season, but NO promises after that. I loved Lasorda and his style. He was NOT a conservative manager. He was not afraid to put on a squeeze play when the situation was ripe for it. He had guts. He also had players with speed and the ability to steal a base. He knew when to let his players run and when to keep them where they were. The Dodgers could use a Maury Wills now. Maury could distract a pitcher to no end every time he got to first base. We could use someone like that again. There was a time when the Dodgers didn't just get a win...they TOOK it. When someone got on base with less than two outs, those players knew how to bunt the runner to the next base. It was FUNDAMENTALS of baseball back then. Do the things your are being paid to do...for the team.
Last, and CERTAINLY not least: when you are at the plate with a 3-2 count, STOP SWINGING AT BALL FOUR!!!! Steve Garvey became infamous for doing that, and he was one of the Dodger greats! We need hitters who KNOW the strike zone, and are patient enough to NOT swing at air.
Yes, it is time to let Roberts go elsewhere. Same with Kershaw, Kelly, Jansen, Seager, Pollock, Hill, and several others. The Dodgers knew they had problems in the bullpen, and did little to nothing about it. Especially when there were some good relievers available Spend your money wisely and get players and a manager who can deliver in the post season.
Another thought just came to mind: I used to be a catcher, and I knew when warming up a pitcher whether or not he had his "stuff" and was able to hit the strike zone. If he couldn't throw strikes, I was not shy about telling the manager his probable pitcher can't throw strikes. When you see a pitcher throwing the ball 7 feet in the air, or 2 feet outside, or bouncing the ball a foot in front of home plate, for God's sake don't put him on the mound!!!
I could go on and on, but then so could most of us, especially those like me who have been Dodger fans for over 50 years! I will ALWAYS be a Dodger fan!!!
Dodgers should have won that game. Roberts was too sow to pull the trigger on changing the picture. Where is Madden. Let's get him
Lucky
This is not the first time he has messed up the playoffs with VERY poor management decisions. The Dodgers have some issues with hitters not 'showing up' in the playoffs. But, mostly the manager's decisions have been terrible.
Roberts isn't a 'bad' manager; he is able to get along with everyone in the clubhouse, get the team together and behind him, and it seems that he is able to get them to win. But that last one is iffy. Not because the Dodgers haven't won under him, which they obviously have, but it is really due to him? Let's face it, the Dodgers, even with their shortcomings, are a pretty talented team. I won't say that 'anyone could win with these guys', because Roberts has gotten some significant win totals from them, but it does mean that it's hard to tell just how good he is, or isn't, in part due to that. (I'll point out here that the front office hasn't done him many favors in the bullpen department; he is not responsible for the limited options he has had, but he is for the use he has made of them.)
On the other hand, we KNOW that he has struggled in the postseason. Yes, that's where the better/best teams are, but his team is one of those as well, so that's a two-edged sword. I think that when he tries to go by instinct, or gut feeling, or whatever, he really, really struggles. It seems that often, when he makes decisions that aren't guided by metrics, they turn out badly, because while they may be based on loyalty, but not common sense. As hard as it is to do, let's go through some of his more egregious playoff issues, in no particular order:
- 9th inning in Game 4 of the World Series, 2018
- 7th inning in Game 5 of the NLDS, 2019
- 10th inning in Game 5 of the NLDS, 2019
- Pretty much every pitching decision after the 4th inning in Game 2 of the World Series, 2017
- 4th inning in Game 3 of the World Series, 2017
- 5th inning of Game 2 of the World Series, 2018
- 7th inning of Game 1 of the World Series, 2018
I know that the Dodgers are now married to metrics, but there are times when Roberts even goes against those. Hill is pulled after two trips through the lineup, when his numbers show that he actually does better the third time through. Pitcher decisions are made that place the one that has struggled against certain hitters, rather than using ones that have had success. Pinch hitters are employed that are having terrible postseasons over those who are actually hitting fairly well. If numbers count, then they have to count in smaller samples as well; not everything is determined in long stretches of play/time.
I know that Roberts is coming back, and that he is fine with being blamed for his mistakes. But, at some point, management is going to have to decide if just going to the playoffs is the point, or if it is winning the whole enchilada. Statistically, having more wins than losses is great and all, but it is only the last one that really counts, for players, fans, and owners...
Roberts is a nice guy. Nice guys finish last.
Yes, as long as he is manager, we will never win a championship. He can't make tough decision in crucial situations.
He is clueless in tough decisions making. I think he plays favorite when the tough gets going. You got to go with what got you there not by who you think is better.
Yes, as long as he is manager, we will never win a championship. He can't make tough decision in crucial situations.
He is clueless in tough decisions making. I think he plays favorite when the tough gets going. You got to go with what got you there not by who you think is better.
Kershaw should have the dignity to just leave money on the table and retire for the sake of our franchise and fans. As for Roberts, both he and Friedman must be fired asap. No need to give the 154 reasons why because we all know why. The makeup of the Dodgers is entirely too vanilla. We need hitters to get on base and drive in runs, not a bunch whom always are swinging for the fence. I'v been a fan since 1955 and enjoyed 6 world series titles. If I never live to see another from the Dodgers, I'm ok but I'm not ok watching my team being run into the ground by a bunch of nitwits.
I'm a lifelong Dodgers and Indy Colts fan. This current Dodger group is very much like the Peyton Manning led Colts teams that went 12-4 or 14-2 every year and then tanked in the playoffs. Both of these teams are/were frustrating beyond belief. Kershaw is the Manning of this Dodger team and time is running out- at least Manning got 1 championship win with the Colts.
Roberts is a players manager. We get that. He seems to, however, manage with his heart. Consistently making boneheaded decisions when the pressure is on. He's gotta go. Putting Kershaw in when he did was a monumental error. Should have pulled Kershaw after the first gopher ball. Stating that Kershaw is the greatest of his generation is valid by not in the past 3 years. Kershaw is a shell of himself. His pitching mechanics have played havoc on his body and he cannot deliver as he used to. Maeda was warmed up and has shown the ability to come in and do exactly what he did after the damage was done. Joe Kelly was a one hit wonder. He's more inconsistent than the weatherman. Eat that contract as well. We fans deserve better.
The Dodgers need new leadership in their Dugout. What they currently have is just not working. Although many are to blame, Dave Roberts must be the one to go. Just going by the analytics he did not put the team in the best position to win. We all know Kershaw playoff history, yet you decide to leave him in there after he gives up the first homerun? Why would you do that? Then you let a pitcher who’s era jumpes up to over 8 after pitching one inning pitch a second inning. He pitched exactly how his numbers reflect by giving up a grand slam to end the season. Was Dave Roberts managing the game or watching it? If he would have made pitching changes based off the numbers and past history a loss like this would have been easier to take. But this has left so many of us angry and scratching our heads. This team is very talented still and so close. Please don’t waste this opportunity by letting Roberts continue to be its manager.
We, the FAN, have paid the Dodgers in attendance, record setting goals, Listen to the Fans, we should have a say also. No more of these washed up players. Sign players of worth & get World Series each year. The Fans deserve it.. Management needs to try harder & believe in their fans suggestions. Thank you sir.
Roberts would probably be a decent coach but not a manager. I have nothing more to say re Kershaw but Maeda is a winner in tough spots. Bad managerial decisions and overrated players plus Washington 'willing to win' made the difference.
David, this my opinion.
David, you have a good tender heart for your players.
That, I think interferes at Game time.
Need to put on your Manager David’s hat on and leave “ just David “ back in the locker room.
Only David, I think you need to think like General George S. Patten in every game, just a suggestion.
Advance with your Army, and finish with your tanks, the best to finish.
Best of Luck,
Respectfully, Betty
Dave Roberts is NOT a "Winner". Back in 2017, he mismanaged the World series vs. the Astros big time! There were many obvious mistakes made by Dave Roberts. Questionable decision making...when to and when not to pull pitchers out, etc. blunders even the layman who is not very well-versed with the game of baseball is able to visualize the outcome of a game.
Dodgers need to get a good, aggressive manager who can put the pieces together and "win" the big one!!!
I’ve been a Dodger fan for over 40 years! I miss the days of Lasorda and all of the Dodger greats! I know there’s a problem when my 11 year old and I can make better decisions and see what is going on. Roberts may be a great person, but if you keep having the same bad outcome postseason after postseason, something or someone must change. Maybe he’s lost his objectivity or he simply is not up to the task. I’m sad for the team and the fans.
Everybody seems to forget game 3 of the series. Pinch-hitter after pinch-hitter got on base and Roberts looked like a genius as they ripped apart Corbin. Roberts has won the division four times in a row and has been to game 7 of the World Series two of the last four years. The front office, however, gifted him with a sub-par bullpen ... once again. I guarantee that a lot of the fans complaining about Kershaw initially thought it was a good idea to let him pitch the eighth inning. Same with Kelly in the 10th -- especially after mowing down three hitters on 12 pitches in the ninth. Yes, Maeda pitched brilliantly, but every manager in the game would have pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the eighth with the winning run already on base. Fans complaining about that would have said the move was brilliant if Freese drove in the go-ahead run.
I say keep Roberts. He cannot bat or play the field. That series was lost in the second game (a 4-2 loss). Dodgers batting in ninth bases loaded 3 balls and two strikes and Seager batting. Next pitch is in the dirt and he swings before the ball even gets to the plate and strikes out.That has been the story all season long. They all swing at pitches outside the plate or even in the dirt. If he would have taken that pitch it wold have been ball four and one run scores. Maybe the next batter could have gotten a hit and the Dodgers win the game. They cannot get hits with men on base. It has been that way for a long time. Also, what has to happened Bellinger? Hits all those homeruns in the regular season, but cannot even hit one or two in the playoffs. I know that Roberts made some bad decisions during the game, but like I said he cannot bat. So please lay off all the negativity comments about him. I have been a Dodgers fan for over 70 years
I’m 54 yrs old. At my age I know what works and what doesn’t. When I saw Kershaw in the bullpen I started pacing, while talking to other Dodger fans saying that Roberts was about to make a huge mistake. Father’s (aka Managers) are tough. They keep you on your toes. If Robert’s wants to be sweet and cuddly like a Grandpa... he should retire like one. GO DODGERS
All of you are forgetting- with the cream of the crop players - Dave Roberts could not win the two all star games he “managed”
Please please Dave Roberts - do the Dodger fans a
favour and RESIGN. Managing is not in your genes
I am a Dodger fan and I predicted to my gym friends- Dodgers are not going anywhere. They laughed and I’m not laughing because I love the team
Let Pollock, Turner go. Get Rendon or Donaldson
Spend the bucks you make by raising ticket prices and parking
Get Bochi - convince him to “unretire”
BOOOOOOOOOOOO! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Worst baseball ever, worst team ever. They deserved to lose. Soft, entitled, lazy and uninteresting. By the way, I am a huge Dodger fan. BOO!!!!
I DON'T LIKE THE WAY ROBERTS RUNS THE TEAM. IF THE SCORE IS TIED OR THE DODGERS ARE ONE RUN BEHIND AFTER THE 6TH INNING AND THEY HAVE NO OUTS WITH A MAN ON 3RD OR 2ND, THEN BUNT THE BALL. I SEE ABOUT 150 DODGER GAMES A YEAR. WHEN PEDERSON HITS A GROUNDER ON THE RIGHT FIELD SIDE OF SECOND BASE, HE TROTS HE DOESN'T RUN. (IN THE PLAYOFFS BUEHLER RAN FASTER THAN JOC.) I WISH THEY COULD GET MADDON. I WANTED THEM TO GET HIM WHEN HE LEFT TAMPA BAY. OR MAYBE BUD BLACK. CAN THE DODGERS TALK TO MADDON WITHOUT GETTING PERMISSION?
THEY NEED TO TRADE ONE OF THEIR GOOD YOUNG PLAYERS FOR A TOP MAN IN THE BULLPEN. WHEN I SAW KERSHAW WARMING UP FOR GAME 5, I DIDN'T LIKE IT. HOW MANY TIMES DOES HE GIVE UP RUNS IN THE FIRST 3 INNINGS HE PITCHES? I WOULD TAKE JOE KELLY OUT THE FIRST BATTER THAT WALKS OR GETS A HIT. I WOULD HAVE PUT IN ADAM KOLAREK. WHAT ABOUT. THANK YOU.
Dave Roberts over manages and needs to have a starting 8. Horrible pitching management. Kershaw is not a relief pitcher. Dodgers need to move on from Jansen, Kershaw, Kelly. They were once great but now over the hill. They will never again be elite, age always wins out. Roberts has totally failed in the post season and with his proven moves will continue to do so. Base hits matter and moving runners into scoring position requires managerial skill and hitting discipline and skill. Do any regular players know how to bunt? Requires practice and teaching in the pre season and a manager that demands it. Home runs or nothing aren’t always the answer. Dave Roberts is not a top tier manager.
I feel bad for Roberts most of all. He wanted to give Kershaw an opportunity to end the curse...and it backfired. He is a good man and will learn from this disaster!!! He deserves it.
Time to clean house... 7 Division titles and no WS title.. Keep the young talent and lose the older vets, except for Freeze..
Also time to get rid of the "nice father figure of a manager (Roberts) and get a tough no nonsense head coach who knows how to manage his team and not be shy or afraid to pull a player or hurt someones ego...
My Rams are 3/3
My Dodgers are done
Now on to Kings and Lakers
I saw all of this watching game on TV
In Dallas where my wife had to come for heart surgery
I saw it all coming with Kershaw after Roberts let him do another inning. You take people out on high note. Then 2 innings with Mr Boston
Terrible for fans. Too many strikeouts. No production from middle lineup. I would trade a couple pieces like pollack and Taylor and Kershaw and hill
roberts must go. Pollack i have always liked but that series was rge worse by any person i have ever seen. Bellinger must perform in the postseason if he doesnt his value is a defensive replacement. oh did i say roberts must go. I am available ro manage for less money if the dodger manager job just requires you to shake hands with a player who hits a home run. oh yea roberts must go
I’ve been a a Dodger fan all my life. I’m 63. All I will do is repeat what others are saying Fire Roberts
Dave stays. Help him, when Kersh got the first strikeout to end the inning, he celebrated and check out of the game, you can’t bring him out again, he disconnected, lost his edge. Same thing with Kelly, got the first three, celebrated leaving the field, he was done. Bellinger, Seger, Pollick, where’s your batting coaches ? Watching pitches til you have 2 strikes, leaves you 1 pitch for success, numbers work for batting too, not just fielding, use them ! A lot of the players on this Dodger team , While they sometimes are successful hitting, a lot of the time, they look like the swing the bat with their eyes closed ! Predictable bases loaded no out’s, 1 sr guy strikes out, 2 nd guy strikes out, 3rd guy pops up, no score. Check out this year, see how many times that reallyhappened !
I have been a Fan 4ever. My thoughts: DR should have gone after his Yu Darvish fiasco. Wasn t Dusty Baker available then? It would have been worth a try and great for fan morale. Kersh got his out. Let him die a hero! It's time for Mike Scosia. And, Oh yeah, as long as upper management only cares about MAKING IT TO (vs WINNING) post season, so PRICES can be INCREASED, we fans will continue to be heart broken by such foolish faux pas blunders (or maybe that is the plan, money wise). ....Keep the fans hoping for "MAYBE NEXT YEAR". But...Did u see the mass exit from Dodger Stadium after the grand slam? Maybe the fans are fed up. I am and it s not from eating too many Dodger Dogs or Brooklyn Pizza. So so so sad to say the least. Who ever came up with the 2019 Dodgers bleed blue slogan was prophetic, n'est pas? There's a lot of it all over L.A. today. If upper management slips in it and bumps their collective heads, do you think they will get WOKE? That's meant to be a joke, so I can leave this with a tearful smile. (Blue tears of course). My Billie Jean King bobble head has them too. And it has now become the high-lite of my 2019 Dodger season. Amen.????????
Yes, Dave should go. He's a wonderful person and a great manager. But sometimes things just need to change to move on. I'm sure he'll do well wherever he lands. But we need to move on.
What has happened to Corey Seager? Since he has returned from his operations he isn't a shadow of his former self. Could it be that something was tweaked during his operations that shouldn't have been? Bellinger was also missing in action. Unfortunately, we have another 4 years of Pollock to look forward to. Signing a player to a 5 year contract with his past history of ailments is questionable, and Kelly is another example of a pitcher with questionable stats. Did we sign Kelly because he pitched well against us in the WS. Did we even look at his bad ERA stats with Boston? I won't dwell over Kershaw's appearance. Everything that can be said , has been said. We dearly missed Verdugo during the NLS. In regards to Roberts, I'm for getting rid of him. I could have managed the Dodgers with the team they had this year, and probably for a lot less than they paid Roberts. It just proves that nice guys don't always win. You also have to be able to make the right decisions especially in the playoffs when you're in the spotlight.
Yes, Roberts should go. So should upper management.
Why can’t they ever come up with a quality three man starting rotation?
Why spend all that money on A.J. Pollock. The last thing they needed was another out fielder.
Well, at least they are not going to embarrass us again by blowing another World Series.
Yes good bye Mr Roberts. Mike Scioscia will not work for current GM and is the reason he left Angels...Mike Scioscia would have won this playoff series just by management skill alone. Maybe the Dodgers need to platoon Mgrs ....Analytics work during the long 162 game season, HRs work well during those games against poor pitching. The NL West is weak so LA record is inflated. Playoffs come against much better pitching and HRs become fewer and this is how you built your team To fail. MLB is not fantasy baseball and human emotions are a big part of things and how people perform -Analytics does not have a column or line item for this. Dave Roberts does what he his told by front office and everything looks great when playing fantasy baseball ...The LA Dodgers talking points are always about team And they want players to platoon... maybe they need one last platoon in the position of Mgr now that would be cutting edge!
Been Dodgers fan since 1941 when I was 5 years old and Mickey Owens dropped a third strike leading the Yankees to win the series. In our situation recall that Charley Dressen helped blow the 51-53 seasons and was finally fired replaced by Walter Alston who was a great field manager. We also fired Don Mattingly for post season failures. Corey Bellinger's post season problems remind me of Duke Snider and his problems when he was a young outfielder and that the fans stuck behind Gil Hodges when he had no hits in a 7 game world series .If we stood behind Kershaw and Bellinger like that perhaps their problems would fade away like Gil's did instead of stomping on Kershaw's shirts by driving over them after the game. Gil had a successful series the next year. Dodgers should consider signing Joe Maddon who is a great field manager and has had success with Tampa Bay and the Cubs in winning league chanpionships and a world series. You have a very fine column. Reminds me of Tommy Holmes with the Brooklyn Eagle back when Dem Bums were a Brooklyn landmark. Get some sleep..
Shortly after 8:02 p.m. I texted to a friend, "This ending is either going to be incredibly disappointing or great joy for Clayton and the fans." It wound up being both. His 3 pitch strikeout was great joy. His back to back home run pitches were incredibly disappointing. However, the blame for this series loss and the lost of the World Series in '17 is at the feet of Dave Roberts.
We know how he screwed up the '17 World Series in the first game with his lousy manager of pitchers. This year he did it again. I told my friend that the day before the game Roberts took on the role of a Hollywood Producer and Director. As a producer he decided on a movie called "The Piggyback Game". In his mind Clayton was going to piggy back on Walker no matter the situation. Then he put on his director hat and the horror began.
Roberts got lucky in that when Clayton came in was actually a good scene, using movie terms. Getting Eaton on three pitches made his movie look great, so far. Then he got to thinking of academy awards and put his star back in another scene for which he had not read the script. Good actors read the script and rehearse their lines. Clayton rehearsed his first scene but didn't know the lines for his second scene.
When the top of the 8th began, the director Roberts had the choice of sticking with an aging actor or bringing in the fresh new reliever with nasty stuff. He went with sentiment, like John Wayne in many of the movies he should have not made at the end of his career. Two pitches later and the season was gone. Maeda came in and struck out the side. Director Roberts took a great movie with a 3-1 score and turned it into a disappointing 3-3 tie.
It got worse. He goes with Kelly for a great 9th. Nasty stuff, like in game one. As you pointed out Kelly's ERA in 2 inning efforts is over 8. Did the director read the Playbill? No. He lets Kelly start the 10th. After a couple of pitches little league kids and my 92 year-old mother could tell Kelly had lost his command. But the director keeps watching the scenes play out and yells "Cut. Print." In the meantime, our top lefty and righty are standing in the pen wondering what the hell is Roberts thinking.
So the movie winds up a flop. No academy awards. No sequel. Instead lots of blame and rightly deserved. A good director would have used Clayton for Eaton, Maeda for the 8th and (I can't believe I am saying this) Kenley for the save. That is how you direct a great movie. Hopefully Roberts will be moving on but it won't happen. I have no problem with Friedman as he has brought in a lot of excellent players that were thrown away by other teams. It is Roberts who is lethal as a manager, lethal for we the fans.
Which prospective manager has the best track record of managing his pitching staff? Hire him!!
The Dodger problem can be solved in one easy departure, Dave Roberts. Dave is a great guy but a poor manager especially in situations that do not require and MIT graduate. Do not send Kershaw back after he strikes out to end an inning.
The crowd is excited Kershaw is elated let him stay in the dugout and feel great.
Bring in Kenta he strikes out the side
You are ahead going into the top of the ninth ahead 3 to 1. Now use your bullpen to save the game,
That is baseball management the way it is suppose to work
Now work on the office to fill the holes AJ should have been benched after the first game
Replace the Manager with a guy who knows how to use his players not on who he likes the best
but who will be the best for the situation.
Dodger fan
voted the best in 1964
I consider myself a loyal and true Dodger fan. I watch every game to the very end. I like all the players young and old and accept their highs and lows.... after all they are human. That being said I have been unhappy with Dave Roberts for a few months now. My husband has been a high school coach for many years and one thing he always says is that a head coach is not a friend. In my opinion Roberts has been caught up in being a friend and cheerleader and this shaded his decisions. Last night’s game was a glaring example. Roberts is a friend to all but maybe that’s the problem.
The Dodgers appear to have great chemistry but have repeatedly failed to achieve at the highest level. Roberts is a great guy, but after watching as many Dodger games as possible since his arrival, it is clear to me that he is a poor on-the-field and game level decision maker. He has allowed Kershaw to fail, knowing very well that he doesn't respond to post-season pressure very well and has shown that he has become home-run prone over the past two years. Kelley was a huge mistake. He repeatedly threw curve after curve into the center on the zone, telling me that he had no confidence in his fast ball -- which is what took the Dodgers and other teams out last year. Pollock was a huge financial risk that his own history was demonstrating he was injury prone and decreasing in performance. The Dodgers already had outfielders that were as good or better.
I could go on about Bellinger and others but the team's own training of the "great upper-cut" swing as hard as you can whip the bat is the root cause of his and other's failure as the season progressed. Teach these talented young players how to go to the opposite field and bunt. With the shift that teams use today and with the speed of Bellinger and a couple of other kids, a little bunt away from the shift is going to be a hit.
Oh well, another wait until next year with the same old mess at the end. Management is the root that needs replacing.
How many games this season did the Dodgers start out with runs in the first & second innings with nothing for the rest of the game.
With Bellinger on 3rd late in the game, Rendon was playing way behind him. He was almost half way down the line with no one paying attention. A bunt toward 3rd would have scored him easily and the rest of the conversations would be moot.
Roberts gut needs to be removed along with him. We need a young manager with experience in today's game, not someone who has managed in the dark ages.
We need a consistent bat in the middle of the batting order, bullpen help and brains upstairs.
Roberts should probably stay as a regular season Manager, but he needs a back-up manager who takes over once the Dodgers have clinched the regular season, a relief manager for the post-season.
Your whole article is right on, I've been saying that for 5 years now.
Kershaw lost the first one to Houston, we gave him a 5 run cushion and he wasted it. He melts, Great guy, but can't handle pressure. Roberts, nice guy, not an MLB manager, he's lost, I could have a hundred wins with this much talent. I say, what I have been saying for a while now, trade Kershaw for two nerves of steel pitchers, trade Jansen for a reliable stopped, and please fire Roberts, and grab Madison while he's still available. One more thing to all the ones that say we should be fine with 7 consecutive NL WEST titles, we should have 5 consecutive WS titles!
Kershaw can no longer be trusted in playoff situations, too many home runs, use him to get them to the playoffs, but leave him off the postseason roster. Love Kershaw, but if he has a problem with this, trade him, get something for him, even if it is a salary dump a la Matt Kemp.
Joe Kelly should be traded or released, same for Pollock. Keep Maeda in the bullpen.
Fire Roberts, because what good does it do to win 106 or even 162 games, but lose a best of 5 or 7 series in the postseason.
Dodgers have a great young group, they will bounce back but it will take time to put the pieces together but Friedman has to be all in on getting it done.
Dodgers have to stop trying to make Kershaw the hero. He's demonstrated time and again he ain't gonna deliver. Just don't do it. This isn't tee ball. Not everyone gets a trophy.
Famous Quote : "Failure is NOT AN OPTION" I like Dave Roberts but to have failed multiple times is very much unacceptable. Change can be good, in this case, CHANGE is necessary. He definitely needs to be replaced.
Famous Quote : "Failure is NOT AN OPTION" I like Dave Roberts but to have failed multiple times is very much unacceptable. Change can be good, in this case, CHANGE is necessary. He definitely needs to be replaced.
All this talk about bad pitching moves doesn't change the fact that the Dodgers can't score more than 3 runs in elimination games. One more run manufactured during innings 3-9 last night, and no one is complaining.
fire everyone !!! I have no doubt that despite having their best run in the franchises history, the unnamed, unknown next guy will do much better.
Congratulations to Dodgers management and players for another great year That’s 7 in a row. The playoffs are always a crap shot and more times than not the best team does not win the series. The management and team have done a terrific job for the last seven years. No other Dodger team or manager in team history has taken us to the playoffs 7 years in a row. Bottom line is that I will bet you that Mike Trout and the Angels would love to have half the success that we have enjoyed. Let us celebrate the great success we have enjoyed.
. Being a nice guy is not enough.. Need a manager that makes the hard decisions even if it upsets his favorite players. He might actually gain their respect .Fire Roberts and hire Madden or Scioscia. Should have hired Scioscia when Lasorda retired. Bellinger ,Pollick and Seeger are choke artists. We need players that don't melt under pressure. Kershaw is finished. Go out and get a number one or two starter. Get someone to set up and close. This rates up there with the most painful loss in the 60 some years I have been a Dodger fan. Please Dodger management do something so they win a World Series before I die.
Of course Roberts needs to be fired.
He managed his way into two world series losses. Both world series could have been won, especially the Astros series. With experience you think that he would have gotten better, but NO he saved the worst for this year. Get a new GM. Get rid of Jansen, Kelly, Baez, Hill, Pollack,and most of those still on the DL. Then hire a real baseball manager. Madden, or Scioscia, or other real managers available. Maybe even trade Kershaw.
Big changes MUST be made.
Dodger fans...first down Henessey and stop overreacting!. Lets not overreact.
Roberts is and always has been a great people manager...thats his strength..
Friedman has made some great acquisitions (e.g. Muncy, Friese, Martin)...and did a mirCulous farm system job.
Given that...and 7-staight playoff appearances, neither should go. Don't overreact Kasten.
I do believe:
1) Obtain another high end reliever like Felipe Vasquez...whose market value (like Araldis Chapman, 2 yrs ago) is at an MLB low.
2) Release Floro, Kelley...and a couple others,
3) Promote Rios (3B), Lux, May, Gosselin, Beaty, Ruiz(C)
4) Let Ryu go to the Yankees.
5) Have patience with Bellinger and Seager aa still-young players.
6) Let Kershaw and Jansen watch video and reinvent themselves). Let aging Turner inestigate knee surgery, yoga or hydrotherapy for rehabbin knees.
7) Let recycled managers like Scoccia and Madden find jobs elsewhere...they are not magicians for lack of player execution.
8)....and finally give credit to the Dodgers for a great
year. How many teams were left only watching?
Roberts stays because he is even more successful after three years than Lasorda was (no playoffs at all in 1979). And Lasorda is a HOF manager. But not enough objectivity with Clayton Kershaw. Hats off to Washington - Strasburg did what Kershaw usually does - homers and three runs given up early and then hold. Rendon hit a ball that was good enough low; the Soto pitch was grooved. No way Kershaw sould have faced Soto and probably not Rendon, either, because Clayton is predictable, around the plate (does not want to get behind or walk a guy) and is not fast enough to get it by decent hitters. You did notice he started with the curve on Rendon? It is only going to work for our deserving hero when he will throw that curve enough to open hitters so hitters cannot know what is coming.
Managers don’t always win games but they can sure lose them. Bye bye dave
Mike Scioscia!!
Dave Roberts may be a very good guy, but he relies way too much on metrics. Strangely in yesterday's game his pitching choices were based on other things. His choices were just wrong. I have always thought Kershaw to be a great pitcher. But in the recent couple of years he has lost some of his glow- control and speed. He has become a good pitcher after the 2nd inning. To use him in relief yesterday was just wrongheaded. Kershaw has given up so many 1st inning HR's. Thus he should have not have been used. he did end the 6th with a strikeout. He appearance should have ended there. Maeda has been so good. In fact he came in after Kershaw and struck out the side. And why after just K'ing the side he was not allowed to pitch the 7th. Instead very unpredictable Joe Kelly was used and produced a big disaster.
The Dodgers seldom have a small ball game to go to when their power game fails.Bunting and usually stealing bases, (though Bellinger did steal 2 last night,) play no roll in their game. Every game entire sides of the field are left uncovered in shifts. Except for an occasional unsuccessful bunt attempt few efforts are made to exploit these gaps. The Dodgers have been a very successful homerun hitting team. But when the homers are replaced with so many strikeouts they often seem managed without an alternative game.
The Dodgers lead their division by, what, 21 games? Yeah, time to get a new manager, lol...
they have the horses they should not be losing to Washington. Roberts seems like such a good guy, but they can't afford to keep him as manager...got to try something different at this point
Roberts should be fired. Friedman should go and at most give him a one-year deal and no raise. Stan Kasten should be put on notice. Trade --or try to trade--Kelly, Pollock, Pederson. Make a run at Gerrit Cole and/or Rendon. If you fail with Cole, resign Ryu. Then your 2020 rotation looks like this: Buehler, Ryu, Kershaw, May, Gonsolin.
The 2019 postseason mistakes began with Kershaw starting Game 2 instead of Ryu. That led to the other dominoes falling.
Kershaw did his job, got the team and the fans pumped up, Roberts shouldn't have put him back in.
He is a great pitcher, a great regular season pitcher, Roberts knows how he performs in play offs.
Maeda did what he was supposed to do, Kolarek should have been in, not Kelly.
Is it wrong to take hitters from line up if they struggle? Seager and Bellinger.
Fans are speechless. Fans would have made better calls.
Dave Roberts needs to go! He set Kershaw up for failure. Knowing Kershaw's playoff struggles, why would you have him come back to start the 8th? Taking Hill out after 4 great innings in game 2 of the world series versus the Astros, Having Darvish Start Game 7 of the same series, Bringing in Madson vs the red sox in the world series last year. Roberts doesn't hit and run, call steals, or use his bullpen personal wisely. He is the Kershaw of managers, good in the regular season but bad decision-maker under playoff pressure. PLEASE BRING MIKE SCIOSCIA. Thank Kershaw for his service, but he as to accept that he is no longer an ace, accept a demotion to be the 3rd starting pitcher in the rotation or be traded. TILL NEXT YEAR DODGER BLUE!!
Why wasn't Russel Martin in t he starting line up last night after having a tremendous game in Washington?
Change the team to pitching, defense and speed or short the fences. Replace the manager.
Seriously, the Dodgers had HUGE holes in the bullpen that was evident as far back as last year. Everyone knew they needed a closer-type or they were not going to win the World Series. Sure, they had the hitting and some good starters, but no way did they have the arms to WIN the series -- which was supposedly the goal this year. So yes, Roberts gets the blame for repeating the same pitcher mistakes he makes every post-season, but the only guy who had control over fixing the GLARING problem on the roster was Friedman and he whiffed. Whether it's imposed by the billionaire bean counters or not, Friedman still has a Tampa Bay mindset --- build a team economically that 's good enough to get to the postseason, because anything can happen at that point. Until the Dodgers build a team DESIGNED TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES this futility will just repeat and repeat and repeat.
When Bellinger, Seager, and Pollack perform as they did this series, the outcome is not surprising. Bellinger is not the MVP. Feel bad for Kershaw. His Hall of Fame induction will lack post season validation. Wanted to see Freese and Martin on the field last night and a manager who made better bullpen choices. Where was Larry Sherry when we needed him?
If we can get Joe Madden then let Roberts go in a heartbeat...
I’ll give Rendon credit for going down and getting that ball, but with Soto it’s like he knew he’d get a slider inside. Are their scouts better than ours? Did he know he’d get that ‘two strike backdoor slider’?
Maybe Rick Honeycutt needs to be evaluated...
Rookie catcher Will Smith should be on the bench watching and learning. What happened to Russell Martin? All teams in the play-offs have senior - experienced catchers. Suzuki, Molina, Sanchez...they control their pitchers.
Highly recommend firing Dave Roberts.....
No. Roberts made some obvious mistakes. But with every decision there is a 50% chance it is going to be wrong. He is well liked, always positive, has kept the Dodgers as contenders throughout his reign. It is not his fault that Bellinger, Seager, and Pollock went MIA. I do not fault him for leaving Kershaw in. He's your third best pitcher, but in that situation I would rather have him out there then Ryu, who has not been used in relief. With a two run lead, needing 7 outs to advance, I'd run Kershaw out there in a heart beat. The pitch to Rendon was not a bad pitch. It was not even a strike. It was almost on the ground. Give Rendon credit. He went down and got it. The pitch to Soto was just too good. It was not Robert's fault. And for Joe Kelly, that is the one move that Roberts can be criticized for. He has not been a good two inning pitcher ever this year. But he was given Kelly as the savior of the bullpen. That was just a bad decision. Or at least it sure looks that way right now. Maybe the Dodgers should have kept him off the roster, since Kelly didn't pitch down the stretch so they didn't really know what they would get from him. None of this is Roberts' fault. He had to work with the cards he was dealt. He got them 106 wins. Just because he lost one game, doesn't negate what was a very successful season and the fact that Roberts has led them to the playoffs each year.
The biggest mistake the Dodgers ever made was not hiring Mike Scioscia. And Ned Colletti should return as GM!
I think the Dodgers should fire Roberts, because he always knows how to jack up the lead when we have it, for example. He should’ve had let walker finish the 8th inning n then bring out Kenta or Julio or Ryu to pitch for the 9th inning n we could’ve had won game 5 and advance to play the cardinals. Look at the game 2 situation when Kershaw pitch and we lost that game, everyone already knows all he’s pitches n they know that he doesn’t have it like he did when he started with the Dodgers, So Yes loose Roberts and get the real Dodgers Manager Soon Mike Social or at least the cubs manager and as well go after verlander n trade Kershaw and Jansen and Hill keep the rest of the pitchers and hopefully next year we will win the World Series
Watching Dave Robert manage a baseball game is like watching a horror movie, in horror movies people always make bad decisions just like Dave Robert does.
wow! read all comments and yes i've had enough. hunjin should have started game 2 Kershaw should not be used since he takes 2or3 innings to get going in a good rythem . Kolerk and Kenta were hot, use them! Cody, must leave as clean up, put him 6or 7 till he warms up. what did he hit in second half, around 260? hate to say it , new manager needed, can't handle play offs. mistake after mistake. it's all been said except that i'm tired of same old same old. Fan since 1953. Just might become Angel fan. Last felt this way when Mike Piazza was sent to Marlins and on to Mets. In hall as a met! Kersh never as good as Sandy Koufax was, won a world Series, that's proof in pudding. To hate is wrong but discusted is how i feel.
Dave Roberts is a piece of the larger issue, that being the front office of Friedman. This is a move by ownership I never really understood. Friedman STILL acts like he's running a small market club. Yes he found plenty of players (even though they all seem to be outfielders), he continues to hold on to players he should dump and for whatever his reason refuses to assemble a major league bullpen. I've been bleeding Dodger Blue my whole life (good and bad) but this hurts. Worst of all... They have to know the problem but have an aversion to fix it. Go Dodgers
I would ask Mr. Roberts to step aside if the LAD are able to hire Mike Scioscia.
I share the disappointment, disillusionment--even agony. I have been a Dodger fan for 50 years and this game stung. I agree with many of the comments and criticisms (and it almost makes me ill), but at the same time I think everyone needs a reality check. Being objective, at the outset of the playoffs I did not feel good about this team's chances. First, anyone who has been a baseball fan for more than five minutes knows the playoffs are a crap-shoot. How many times does the best team win? Even in the best circumstances, they would only be slight favorites--and this wasn't the best circumstances. Which leads to the second point. This was not a great team. Glossy record in a mediocre division in a mediocre league. Played flat most of the second half. This team was built for the regular season. Depth, flexibility and versatility are great over 162 games, but dont matter as much in a 5 game series. Playoffs are about star players. Who are the stars? The best player (Bellinger) started off way above his head and raised unreasonable expectations. His second half was closer to reality. Aside from Turner, too many streaky players and not enough consistency. Last, and most important, great pitching wins. The bullpen has been a problem all year and not much was done to fix it. For the starters, while a solid regular season rotation, there was only one hammer (Buehler--usually).Kershaw is way past his prime and Ryu is a finesse pitcher whose effectiveness is a coin flip. The Nationals had three. In a 5 game series with two off days, those guys pitched in every game. In those cases, the team with the hammers usually win. So go ahead and point to game 5 and roast Roberts if you want--no love lost here--but I think you risk missing the big picture: this team just wasn't good enough.
Growing up here in L. A. loving the Doyers but I’ve had enough. I’m tired of the Doyer propaganda before a game during the game (homer Orel Hershiser) and guess what nothing to show. I have begun watching more Angel games, in time they will improve but at least I don’t have to constantly hear just how great the Doyers are. Yes......Roberts must go
Let us not forget Yu. After his terrible first game performance, Roberts not only brings him back, but lets him in after the first scoring which was enough to lose.
Last night based on his previous performance, I would have used Martin. Did Roberts fall asleep on pitching?
Maeda is a multi inning guy, Kelly isn’t.
Given the talent a good manager should win. Time to forget Mr. nice guy, move him on.
Doc's primary concern is his relationship with his players. In game 5 Doc fell in love with the idea of a 3 time Cy Young former MVP coming out of the bullpen instead of facing the reality that his fastball is 89 mph. Doc has forgotten who buys the tickets, who he REALLY answers to -- The Fans, not the players. And because he chose displeasing a player instead of pleasing US -- Yes -- he needs to move on.
I am still sick over last night's loss. I have been a Dodger fan for 35 years and last night was one of the worst losses I have ever experienced. We had all the ammunition but the guns jammed. Robert's continued lineup changes are frustrating to say the least. These players fans and front office deserve more than that! We all know Kershaw was once great but 89 - 92 will not get it done. Kelly is not reliable and was left to bleed out all by himself without a visit???
This team was supposed to be the best ever but we will never be great without momentum and consistency. Kershaw, Jansen, Kelly ,Pollack should not be dodgers either Robert's they have all had their chances. And we are home without a trophy yet again!! Just plain sickening!