Dave Roberts became the 69th manager in MLB history to reach 1,000 career wins, and is the second to do so this season as Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch achieved the feat on Monday.
Roberts, Hinch and Terry Francona are the only active managers with at least 1,000 wins. In Francona’s case, he’s well ahead at 2,072 wins in what’s his 25th season as a manager.
As Roberts was nearing the milestone, he acknowledged it would be one to celebrate despite the focus otherwise remaining on the Los Angeles Dodgers looking to complete a three-peat this year.
Walter Alston, Tommy Lasorda, Wilbert Robinson and Roberts are the only managers in Dodgers franchise history to win 1,000 games. Alston, Lasorda and Robinson all are Hall of Famers, and Roberts certainly figures to join them in Cooperstown once his managerial career comes to a close.
Alston, who managed the Dodgers for 23 seasons in a tenure that began in Brooklyn and extended into Los Angeles, is the franchise’s all-time leader with 2,040 wins. Lasorda finished with 1,599 managerial wins, and Robinson is ahead of Roberts as well with 1,375 wins.
Dave Roberts makes history to 1,000 wins
All but one of Roberts’ 1,606 games as manager has come with the Dodgers. He suffered a loss while filling in as interim manager with the San Diego Padres during the 2015 season.
Roberts became Dodgers manager the following year and his first win coincidentally came against the Padres. There was the potential that Roberts’ 1,000th career victory would come at the expense of the Padres as well, but the Dodgers got him to the milestone against the A’s.
With that, Roberts set an MLB record for fastest to 1,000 manager wins in MLB history. The record previously belonged to Cap Anson, who needed 1,641 games to reach 1,000 wins. During the Live Ball Era (since 1920), the record was held by New York Yankees manager Joe McCarthy recording his 1,000th career win in 1,648 games.
Under Roberts’ 10 completed seasons as manager thus far, the Dodgers have reached the playoffs each year, won nine National League West titles, five pennants and three World Series championships.
Roberts’ career .623 winning percentage is the highest of any manager in MLB history (minimum 315 games). It’s bested only by Negro League managers Bullet Rogan (.698), Vic Harris (.663) and Rube Foster (.633).
Roberts’ winning percentage is also the best among any manager who has been at the helm for at least 1,000 games.
Roberts has led the Dodgers to at least 90 wins in every full season during his managerial tenure. L.A. was an MLB-best 43-17 during the shortened 2020 season, which was a .717 winning percentage that equates to a 116-46 record over the course of a full year.
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