Dave Roberts to be named Dodgers manager

The Dodgers are expected to name Dave Roberts – a UCLA product who spent three of his 10 big-league seasons playing for the Dodgers – as their new manager on Monday.

Roberts’ father is black and his mother is Japanese.

Mattingly led the Dodgers to Western Division titles the past three seasons, but the teams’ failures to advance to the World Series led to disappointment from fans and team officials.

Roberts, who is the son of a retired Marine and was born in Okinawa, Japan, becomes the first African American manager of the club after vying with Dodgers director of player development Gabe Kapler and Darin Erstad for the job.

Roberts joined the Padres staff in 2011 as first base coach.

“His energy is infectious and he has the rare ability to make a genuine connection with every person he comes across”, Friedman said.

There will be tremendous pressure now on Roberts to take over where Mattingly left off and get the Dodgers over the hump and into their first fall classic since 1988. He must be. It’s not as if the San Diego Padres have been such a powerhouse over the past few seasons that their bench coach simply had to get a plum job.

You know the rest of the story: Roberts scored the tying run, the Red Sox won in extras, overcame a 3-0 series deficit to vanquish the hated NY Yankees and ultimately busted the Curse of the Bambino. According to Andy Van Slyke, the former major league player and coach and the father of Dodgers outfielder Scott Van Slyke, the Puig detractors include ace left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who wants him traded. After leading the team to a 71-91 record in 2005, Tracy and new General Manager Paul DePodesta had “philosophical differences” and agreed Tracy would not return in 2006.

“We’re extremely excited to bring Dave Roberts on board as the next manager of the Dodgers”, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said in a statement. He was only there for part of a season, but Roberts might be best known for his tenure with the Boston Red Sox, in 2004.

Roberts managed the Padres for one game in 2015 after Black was sacked and before interim manager Pat Murphy took over.

Now, the Dodgers are hoping that Roberts can help the Dodgers out of their own World Series drought. A career. 266 hitter, Roberts stole a total of 243 bases.

Roberts replaces Don Mattingly, who managed the Dodgers the past five seasons. Roberts would have a scare in 2010 after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but has made a full recovery.

Numerous problems Mattingly encountered also remain, including expectations of a World Series championship. The two men did play together, and both seem to have pretty solid reputations throughout the game.