Dave Roberts Admits He Feared Yankees Returning to L.A. for World Series Game 6
The Los Angeles Dodgers closed out a five-game World Series against the New York Yankees in the Bronx, staging a dramatic comeback in Game 5 to clinch the franchise’s eighth championship. During a Monday appearance on Mookie Betts’s podcast, manager Dave Roberts admitted that he’s relieved the series didn’t shift back to Los Angeles for a Game 6.
Elaborating, Roberts said that he was afraid of the pressure the Dodgers would face if tasked with having to avoid potentially blowing a 3–0 series lead. Roberts, who was part of the Boston Red Sox team that staged a 3–0 comeback in the ALCS against the Yankees in 2004, made it clear he was hoping to avoid ending up on the wrong side of history.
“When you’re down 3–0, you’re at the point where you have nothing to lose now… When you’re down 3–0 everyone is expecting you to lose anyway. So now, that, for me, is freeing. And they played free, won Game 4. And I will tell you this now, publicly, I was so afraid to come back to Los Angeles for Game 6,” said Roberts, when asked if he managed Game 5 with more urgency than usual. “I was so afraid to come back to Los Angeles for Game 6.”
