Dec. 02--It was broadcast on a cable network that half of Los Angeles can't watch. There were questions about a star pitcher who could be skipping town. There was talk of a troubled outfielder allegedly involved in a barroom scuffle.
When the Dodgers began a celebratory news conference to announce their new manager Tuesday, the stadium club felt oddly dark and ominously cluttered.
Dave Roberts lit it up with his smile.
"I like grit," he said. "Grit is an unrelenting passion and desire from a common goal and we're not going to waver from that."
Roberts cleared the clouds with his passion.
"I do believe in team offense, situational hitting, in competing every pitch, running the bases," he said. "When teammates watch you competing every pitch, go first to third on a hit, create an opportunity for the next guy ..."
Roberts flipped the narrative with his fire.
"There's a way to play baseball that, if you look back, is the Dodgers way," he said. "People can look back at the Dodgers and say, 'These guys stuck their nose in it, they got hit by pitches, took extra bases, made plays, hit cutoff men' ... it's a responsibility for us to play our tails off."
By the time he was finished, Roberts had shut out doom, gone deep on cynicism and won his first managerial moment in the same scrapping style that marked a 10-year playing career that included three spikes-flying seasons with the Dodgers.
"The culture is going to be positive-driven, energy-driven," Roberts said, and, goodness, this 27-year World Series drought could use a deluge of both.
Roberts can't fix the two-years-and-counting TV debacle, an issue that remains squarely in the lap of Dodgers President Stan Kasten. But he will certainly bring hope to fans who are weary of watching the Dodgers fail during October nights when games are broadcast everywhere.
Peter Guber, the Dodgers co-owner, says Roberts reminds him of another rookie coach who was hired by Guber's other pro sports team. You know, that Steve Kerr guy for the Golden State Warriors.
"[Roberts] turned 'me' into 'we,' he's going to have a collection of players that are committed to being a team, that's what's exciting for us," Guber said.
