It has been just over a week since the Los Angeles Dodgers won their second straight title by defeating the Blue Jays in a seven-game 2025 World Series. The offseason will include discussions regarding how the club can make more history by becoming the first group to win three straight championships since the New York Yankees accomplished the feat from 1998 to 2000.
Beyond any hope for another parade, it is worth considering how the Dodgers’ 2025 season has impacted manager Dave Roberts’ legacy. While numerous fans and pundits would argue that Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda is the greatest skipper ever to lead the Boys in Blue, Los Angeles’ most recent run of dominance has placed Roberts into an unprecedented stratosphere as the franchise's most impactful manager.
Lasorda never achieved the statistical heights that longtime manager Walter Alston reached, but was able to cultivate an image that made him larger than life. Roberts has had the unique challenge of directing the sports’ most talented and scrutinized roster in decades, and has earned the hardware to prove that he’s been the right man at the right time.
“We've put together something pretty special, I do know that,” Roberts said. “I'm proud of the players for the fans, scouting, player development, all the stuff. To do what we've done in this span of time is pretty remarkable. I guess let the pundits and all the fans talk about if it's a dynasty or not, but I'm pretty happy with where we're at.”
Dave Roberts has had just as much statistical success as Lasorda
For most Dodgers fans, Lasorda is known as an icon who led the team through one of its most prosperous periods. The Norristown native managed the team from 1976 to 1996, and won two titles and four National League Pennants during his tenure.
“Yeah, it's hard to reconcile that one. I've just got so much respect for Tommy and what he did in the game, and so it's just right now, I'm just really elated and really proud of our team, our guys, the way we fought, and we've done something that hasn't been done in decades,” Roberts told reporters after passing Lasorda in terms of World Series wins.
“There was so many pressure points and how that game could have flipped, and we just kept fighting, and guys stepped up big.”
Lasorda earned a .526 win percentage over his managerial career with Los Angeles, while Altston won four titles and boasted a .558 win percentage. The former has received more praise, given his bold personality and media savvy, but the latter could statistically be considered the more prosperous individual.
Alston started with the Dodgers while the team was in Brooklyn, during a time when they were initially considered the “Bums” due to their inability to beat the Yankees in the Fall Classic. The Ohio native helped shed this image in 1955 with the first World Series victory in franchise history, and oversaw the move to Los Angeles, where pitchers like Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale would usher in a new era that was not defined by their past shortcomings.
Lasorda took over directly after Alston decided to retire towards the end of the 1976 campaign, and inherited talents such as first baseman Steve Garvey, second baseman Davey Lopes, and catcher Steve Yeager.
Since becoming the Dodgers’ manager in 2018, Roberts has earned a .621 win percentage, the best mark of any Los Angeles skipper to manage at least 1000 contests. He is one title shy of Alston’s four, and more than 1000 wins behind both Alston and Lasorda. It remains to be seen if Roberts will be able to tally more wins than Lasorda, Alston, or Hall of Famer Wilbert Robinson, who owns the third-most victories in franchise history, but he could potentially raise the Commissioner’s Trophy more than any other Los Angeles manager when all is said and done.
Dave Roberts has proven that he can unite stars and big personalities
Even if Roberts is only able to statistically surpass Alston and Lasorda in terms of championships, it could be said that he’s already been a better clubhouse unifier.
Towards the end of his run, Alston had to deal with ongoing spats between Garvey, Lopes, and others, such as starting pitcher Tommy John. This turmoil initially became less prevalent once Lasorda took over and led the team to both the 1977 and 1978 NL Pennants, but the tension never truly dissipated.
It is worth wondering if either of those teams would have been able to defeat the Reggie Jackson-led New York Yankees if they had been able to face challenges as a group instead of playing as individuals. Of course, Lasorda’s crew got the job done in 1981 and 1988, but it is hard not to ponder what such a talented group could have achieved without the distractions they created.
Roberts has benefitted from one of the finest rosters to ever grace the diamond, but a lesser manager may have failed to find common ground that could keep the clubhouse on the same page. Most, if not all, players want to win a title, but managerial messaging can make a difference when speaking to such different personalities.
Roberts has been able to get outspoken players such as Kiké Hernandez and more reserved personalities like Miguel Rojas to fight for a common goal while also ensuring the team’s stars are content.
Over the past two years, Roberts has seemed to accomplish this by having his team embrace the role of baseball’s villain.
“Before this season started, they said the Dodgers are ruining baseball,” Roberts said after Los Angeles swept the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS. “Let’s get four more wins and really ruin baseball.”
The 53-year-old has downplayed this statement since making it, but others have made similar comments during the team’s back-to-back championship runs. Roberts took over while the Dodgers were considered postseason chokers, and he has watched the team evolve into a perennial contender.
Lasorda might have deemed Dodger Stadium “blue heaven on earth,” but Roberts has become the franchise’s most impactful skipper by building a championship culture that has made games in Chavez Ravine anything but a heavenly experience for opposing clubs.
