The Los Angeles Dodgers won the National League West for an 11th time in the past 12 seasons, which has included eight division titles under manager Dave Roberts in his nine years at the helm.
The 2024 Dodgers clinched the NL West by never falling out of first place throughout the year despite their pitching staff being decimated by injuries and also losing the likes of Mookie Betts and Max Muncy for extended periods of time.
Pressure from the San Diego Padres increased over recent weeks, and particularly after the Dodgers lost the series opener on Tuesday night. L.A. remained two games ahead of San Diego in the standings in still in control of their own destiny.
But concern — and in some cases panic — outside the clubhouse mounted. It was a reality Roberts admitted to being surprised by.
“But that’s kind of the way it is,” he added. “Inside the clubhouse, we’ve dealt with a lot and we do a great job of focusing on that night’s ballgame.
“We’ve still had a pretty good season. … The fact is we’ve still got the best record in baseball.”
The Dodgers quickly recovered from any shock of losing to the Padres on a game-ending triple play by putting together back-to-back impressive wins that wrapped up the division.
“This is the first step. The one thing I try to tell our guys is, you’ve got to enjoy these moments. It’s a grind, it’s a long season, but if you don’t enjoy moments like this, then what are we doing?” Roberts said amid the Dodgers’ NL West celebration.
“When you wear this Dodgers uniform, there’s always pressure, expectations to be a champion. We’re in the city of champions. Los Angeles is the city of champions, so we’re going to embrace it. My message to the guys is, no team is going to right harder than we are, and I’ll bet on our talent.
“We’ve got a lot of great players, a lot of character players, it’s top to bottom. The organization is fantastic. I think one mark of greatness is consistency. And one thing we do, year in and year out, we’re very consistent with winning, and the product we put on the field, the product we give to our fans every single night, that’s something I’m proud of.”
Dave Roberts ties Tommy Lasorda
The Dodgers’ eight NL West titles with Roberts as manager tied him with Tommy Lasorda for most division championships in franchise history.
Roberts previously put his name alongside Lasorda’s as the only rookie managers in Dodgers history to lead a team to the division title.
Roberts also set a managerial record by guiding the Dodgers to a division championship in each of his first five seasons. In 2019, Roberts became the first manager in MLB history to lead his team to a division title in each of his first four full seasons.
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