Dodgers manager Dave Roberts might always be pinch-runner Dave Roberts in Boston.
Roberts had 243 career steals in his 10-year career, but none bigger than swiping second as a member of the Red Sox in 2004 to spark a momentous rally -- Boston won four straight over the New York Yankees to take the American League Championship Series -- and eventually the franchise's first World Series since 1918.
"Someone mentions it every day," Roberts said.
Alex Cora, now the manager of the Red Sox, can corroborate Roberts' claim. He's hearing about it now more than ever as the first-year skipper prepares to begin the World Series at Fenway Park with Roberts in the Los Angeles dugout.
"Dave Roberts in '04, he came here, he stole that base against the Yankees, and the rest is history," Cora said. "And now he comes here and he makes a lot of money signing autographs (laughter). I know he puts, 'The greatest stolen base in the history of the game.' He makes a lot of money in an hour."
Roberts chuckled that the stolen base wasn't all that lucrative, but he certainly gets that it was memorable.
Dave Roberts’ most famous stolen base is part of Red Sox mythology https://t.co/BnvOenQJm8 pic.twitter.com/h2Uo64XiYn
— L.A. Daily News (@ladailynews) October 22, 2018
The two managers share plenty of memories. They were together in July 2004 when the Red Sox made the move to acquire Roberts from the Dodgers.
"I still remember with him he was crushed," said Cora. "That was a good baseball team. And they decided to make a few moves, to say the least. And he was part of it. I remember, I told him, I said, 'Hey, man, you're going to a great city. They have a chance to do something special. You never know.'"
Cora did not set out to be a manager, he said, and never envisioned that Roberts would be either. Cora was comfortable sharing a set with other baseball talking heads at ESPN, where he worked around 70 days per year and could still fly home to Puerto Rico to be with his family 80 percent of the time.
"Those experiences help," said Cora, who was bench coach with the Houston Astros when they took down the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series. "And last year, too. We went through it in Houston. And it's not that we went through it here but at that level, people stay the course and they didn't talk to the media about it or whatever, but you have to deal with stuff like that, trades and releasing guys and sending people down and being around Tito (Terry Francona), Davey Johnson, Jerry Manuel, so on and so on. I learned from them and it really helped."
#Dodgers manager Dave Roberts describes his excitement about returning to Fenway Park, facing Alex Cora & the #RedSox in the #WorldSeries and more. pic.twitter.com/iOFKd84xWE
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) October 23, 2018
Roberts is enjoying the nostalgia of "The Steal" this week in Boston, but he's not planning to shift his focus from beating the Red Sox this time around. Taking a moment to reflect Monday at World Series Media Day was the perfect opportunity to revisit 2004.
"They all touch me in different ways. I think the key that I've really grown to appreciate is it's not about me," he said. "I understand that it was a big play for me, for the Red Sox and our club in 2004, but understanding that everyone has a moment. That moment is special to them or whoever they're with, and however they identify that play with that particular moment. And for to them to want to share that with me, that's pretty humbling. So I've really grown to love to hear the different stories. I've heard stories of parents on their deathbed and got to see it, and then finally gave way once they saw us win a championship. And it doesn't get more impactful or heartwarming than that."
