MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

Roberts has L.A. back to World Series for first time since 1988.

LOS ANGELES —

Dave Roberts’ first two years as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ manager have gone by in an actionpacked blur.

He has watched 195 regular-season wins and survived one awful losing skid. He has won two NL West titles, three playoff series and a pennant. He persevered through his father’s death with almost no time to grieve last spring, determined to keep his team pointed toward its championship goal.

And though he played 2½ seasons for the Dodgers, this UCLA product still sometimes feels like a newcomer in blue.

“I’m learning something every day, I think,” Roberts said recently. “Being more familiar with the front office, the players, the coaches, I think that all of that has helped me be more comfortable in any situation.”

Ro b erts relishes the chance to reflect on these two crazy seasons — perhaps at his North County winery — after the World Series, which begins at Dodger Stadium tonight for the first time in 29 years.

But until the Dodgers and

the Houston Astros are finished, he’ll stay focused on putting his highly paid players in the best positions to chase that trophy. Although he had no managerial aspirations until long after his playing career ended, Roberts has grown passionate

about the work.

“I think that I just love the game,” Roberts said. “I love to teach. I love the players. ... I think that as your (playing) career evolves and starts to descend, you start changing roles as far as mentor, teammate, role model, and then helping younger players, and just loving the teaching component.”

Roberts is often given credit for balancing the demands of the prodigious baseball minds in the Dodgers’ data-driven front office

and the hearts of the ballplayers doing the on-field work. He routinely redistributes any praise among his players and the team’s large group of executives and coaches — just as a leader should.

And while he was a surprise choice for the job in late 2015, Roberts has been just about as successful as anyone can be in an unforgiving, relentlessly second-guessed profession.

In concert with the front office, he has been innovative and fearless while the

big-budget Dodgers honed new strategies to handle pitching staffs and attempted to get maximal value from all

their extraordinary assets. Roberts won the NL Manager of the Year award as a rookie last season while setting a major league record with 606 pitching changes. With a few inspired moves in the NL Division Series against Washington, he helped the Dodgers to the NL Championship Series, where they ran into the destined Chicago Cubs.

After guiding these current 104-win Dodgers past Arizona and Chicago in a 7-1 playoff rampage, the former outfielder has the chance to add another championship ring to the one he earned

through his monumental stolen base against Yankees closer Mariano Rivera during the Boston Red Sox’s 2004 championship run.

“Doc gets a lot of respect because he played the game, but the biggest thing that he gives us is consistency,” Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill said. “If we’re winning six times a week or in a losing streak, he’s the same guy every day. He’s always trying to make everybody better, and he doesn’t take days off. Teams feed off that, and the results of it show up when you get to where we are in October.”

Roberts has major advantages in his job: The highest payroll in baseball, a roster studded with talent, and a loyal, vociferous fan base eager for a championship.

He also has incredible challenges: The Dodgers’ championship drought, a surplus of talent to keep happy, those enormous expectations brought on by that fat payroll — and a loyal, vociferous fan base eager for a championship.

GETTY IMAGES “I’m learning something every day ... I think that all of that has helped me be more comfortable in any situation,” says Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.