Dave Roberts is on the verge of something that only three other men in Dodgers history have ever done. Monday night’s 9-4 win over the Athletics in Sacramento pushed him to 999 career managerial victories. One more and the Dodgers manager becomes the fourth skipper in franchise history to hit 1,000 wins.
The other three are Hall of Fame company. Walter Alston. Tommy Lasorda. Wilbert Robinson. That’s the list. And Roberts is about to add his name to it.
It didn’t come easy, but then again it rarely does in this sport. Eric Lauer gave the Dodgers a solid start, which is exactly what they needed with their bullpen already running thin this season. Shohei Ohtani went deep. Andy Pages went deep. Max Muncy went deep. The lineup kept pressure on Oakland’s pitchers all night and never really let up.
That’s been the story of Los Angeles all season. The stars show up. The role players do their jobs. And Roberts keeps stacking wins at a rate that’s almost hard to believe.
His .622 winning percentage as a manager is ridiculous for someone with this many games under his belt. Most managers start to regress toward the mean after a few years. Roberts just keeps winning. Three World Series titles in his tenure, including back-to-back in 2024 and 2025. The guy has a ring for every 333 wins he’s collected.
Dodgers Nation posted about the milestone on social media after Monday’s game, pointing out that Ohtani, Pages and Muncy all homered in the win. They also noted the obvious: Roberts is one W away from 1,000. Which is a nice round number, but it’s really just another stop along the way for a manager who’s been chasing something bigger for years.
For context, Robinson managed the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1914 through 1931. Alston managed from 1954 through 1976. Lasorda went from 1976 through 1996. Roberts took over in 2016 and has already matched up with all three of them in terms of organizational impact. The guy hasn’t even had a losing season.
So yeah, the milestone is a big deal. But it’s also almost routine at this point for Roberts. He’s going to hit 1,000 wins. The question is whether he stays healthy and stays hungry enough to chase 2,000. At his current pace, that’s about nine more seasons. Would anyone really bet against him?
The Dodgers have a day game Tuesday before heading back to Los Angeles. Roberts will get his shot at win 1,000 soon enough. And when he does, history will have a new name on a very short list.
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