For Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, this World Series title comes with no asterisk

NEW YORK – Finally, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is asterisk-free.

Asterisks are a vital part of baseball. They’re like the scarlet letter that some players wear throughout their baseball lives. They often resonate after their careers are over.

New York Yankees right fielder Roger Maris set the single-season home run record in 1961. That year, MLB commissioner Ford Frick attached an asterisk to Maris’ home run record because Yankees outfielder Babe Ruth needed only 154 games to hit 60 home runs in 1927, and Maris took 162 games to break Ruth’s record.

As a manager, Roberts has carried around an asterisk for the last four seasons. He led the Dodgers to the World Series championship in 2020. There is an asterisk on that championship because it came at the end of a season shortened by the coronavirus pandemic. The one distinction is that Roberts, whose mother is Japanese and father is African American, became the first manager of Asian descent to win a World Series title.

That asterisk is still there, but Roberts was able to do something Maris couldn’t do. He didn’t remove an asterisk. He simply accomplished the same feat and did it without an asterisk.

The Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees 7-6 in Game 5 to win the World Series 4-1 on Wednesday. The victory was the eighth championship in Dodgers history, or more importantly, the victory was the first “legitimate” championship for Roberts in only nine seasons as Dodgers manager.

Robert’s second title — and first without an asterisk — probably punched his ticket to Cooperstown, New York.

Roberts is tied with Tommy Lasorda, who won two championships with the Dodgers, and may join the list of managers with three titles: Tony LaRussa, Sparky Anderson, Miller Huggins and John McGraw. Roberts is within striking distance of Bruce Bochy and Joe Torre, who have won four each.

Even the legends are in reach if Roberts wants to manage that long. Joe McCarthy won seven titles, Casey Stengel won seven and Connie Mack won five. After Wednesday’s victory, Roberts said he is in awe to simply be in the same cathedral as those legends.

“Humbling. Never thought I would be in that same conversation,” Roberts said. “I’m a part of a great organization, a lot of great people around me supporting me, and we’ve won a lot of ball games. This is something I really wanted. I wanted this one.”

Roberts has constructed an awesome résumé since becoming the Dodgers manager in 2015. He has led the Dodgers to 11 consecutive postseason berths — though with one title before now, Roberts was criticized for underachieving.

Asked about the criticism Wednesday, Roberts took the positive approach.

“I’m going to take the high road,” he said. “It’s hard to win a championship regardless of what your team is like. It’s hard, and there’s a reason why there hasn’t been a repeat champion since the Yankees did it. It clearly speaks to the difficulty, the playoff format, and all that stuff. I’m going to be in the moment, and I’m going to enjoy the heck out of this one.”

Maybe not for long. In the Dodgers clubhouse after Wednesday’s game, Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ 30-year-old superstar, clearly caught up in the moment, suggested to a teammate that the team could win nine more World Series championships.

“I don’t want to get to pressure yet,” Roberts, 52, said. “I’ve dealt with pressure quite a bit. I’m going to enjoy this one. But once we get to spring training, that’s certainly going to be the goal, yes.”

Before Wednesday’s game, I asked Roberts about players getting or not getting their just due. Some sports figures always seem to be underappreciated while other always seems to be heralded. Outfielder Reggie Jackson became Mr. October with the New York Yankees. Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles but will be forever lionized for winning a title while playing with the flu.

Managers are in a difficult spot. They must rely on players to perform and it’s up to the manager to push the right buttons and put players in position to succeed.

Roberts had to be Houdini the way he managed his injury-ravaged baseball team and he did it with one historic stroke after another. Indeed, after watching first baseman Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off grand slam Monday in Game 1, Roberts said he thought it was probably one of the most historic moments he had ever seen.

Before Wednesday`s game, I asked the Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez what it was like playing for Roberts. “For me Dave is — I played for four teams now — and Dave, I think, is one of the best managers that I have had,” he said.

“It’s just the confidence that he gives to the players. He lets you play. He lets you be the player that you’ll always be. He lets you have fun. His communication with his players is one of the best ones that I had in my career, and I think that’s why he’s so special for this team and the players.”

I first met Roberts in 2004 after he was traded from the Dodgers to the Boston Red Sox. The trade was hard on Roberts. He had settled in after 2½ seasons with the Dodgers.

In 68 games with the Dodgers, he was hitting .253 with 7 triples, 2 home runs and 33 stolen bases in 2004. A year earlier, in 2003, he had stolen 40 bases. The year before that, 45. He became expendable and was traded away. I asked him in 2004 about being traded and Roberts was upbeat.

“That’s part of the business,” Roberts said. “I never asked anybody to feel sorry for me, because I think I have the best job in the world.”

Roberts became a pivotal part of the Red Sox overcoming a 3-0 deficit to the Yankees in the American League Championship Series and winning the team’s first World Series title since 1918 in 2004. I remember speaking with Roberts in a jubilant Red Sox clubhouse after the World Series victory. He hadn’t played a lick in the World Series but celebrated as if he’d played every minute. He said that was the best feeling of his career. “To be part of a team that rewrites history, it doesn’t get any better than this,” he said.

It got better Wednesday when Roberts won his second World Series championship as the Dodgers manager. When he met reporters afterward, Roberts delivered the line I’m certain he’d been waiting to deliver for four years.

Asked about the championship, he said, “I’m sure there’s no asterisk on this one.”

No doubt.