MLB WORLD SERIES: DODGERS VS BLUE JAYS

November 1, 2025

Dave Roberts

Rogers Centre

Los Angeles Dodgers

Postgame 7 Press Conference

Dodgers - 5, Blue Jays - 4

Q. I like the goggles. Nice look.

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah.

Q. That game was full of history, and I'm sure you'll find out about all the history, but part of it was you passed Tommy Lasorda for World Series titles. I think Walter Alston, actually, has more. But what does that mean to you?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, it's hard to reconcile that one. I've just got so much respect for Tommy and what he did in the game, and so it's just right now, I'm just really elated and really proud of our team, our guys, the way we fought, and we've done something that hasn't been done in decades.

There was so many pressure points and how that game could have flipped, and we just kept fighting, and guys stepped up big. So I could just go on and on about the big plays, the big performances, and it's one of the greatest games I've ever been a part of and this whole series and what the Blue Jays did and they gave us everything they had and just such a first-class organization.

Q. You pressed the right button at every juncture, especially tonight but throughout the series. Can you talk about how you did that?

DAVE ROBERTS: I just think it just goes down to just trusting your players, and it's nice when you can look down the roster and have 26 guys that you believe in and know that at some point in time their number's going to be called. And that's kind of what happened.

Miggy Ro -- I talk about the game honors you and right there the game honored him. He does things the right way and he deserved that moment. And what Yoshi did tonight is unprecedented in modern day baseball. Just the young guys coming out there with the arms and just the big plays and -- again, it's been a long season, man. We started out in Tokyo and ended up north of the border, so just proud of this group of guys.

Q. What was the mood into the dugout like when Miguel was coming up there in the 9th? And just being able to manage that game with the way it started and the deficit you guys faced, what did it show you about your club that you guys were able to come back there?

DAVE ROBERTS: We were going to play 27 outs. Obviously, it doesn't look great in that moment, but I trust him to take the at-bat, and he got a pitch that he could handle and hit the biggest hit he's ever had in his life. Obviously, at that point in time we felt real good about it. We needed a next-level performance from Yamamoto and we got it.

Q. Can you walk through just the pitching maneuvers from Snell to Yamamoto and then sticking with him once you got to the 11th, what was going through your brain the last couple innings?

DAVE ROBERTS: Gosh. Yeah, I'm still trying to unpack it. Yeah, Snell was good. I just felt that he gave us what he had. And I think Glasnow pitched before him. Honestly, I just kind of tried to push guys as much as they could. Having Emmet in there and Robo doing his thing, got some big outs, and for me at that point in time I wanted to give Yamamoto an opportunity to keep the game at bay.

Once did he that, he felt confident that he could stay in his delivery, it wasn't going to compromise health, and then at that point in time, even for that third up he said, daijoubu. It means I'm okay. And so for me, I just trusted him and he came up big begin.

Q. We've asked you about the dynasty question a couple times over the years. I mean, do you look at this as cementing that? Just what is going back-to-back and winning three in six years kind of mean to what you guys have put together here?

DAVE ROBERTS: We've put together something pretty special, I do know that. I'm proud of the players for the fans, scouting, player development, all the stuff. To do what we've done in this span of time is pretty remarkable. I guess let the pundits and all the fans talk about if it's a dynasty or not, but I'm pretty happy with where we're at.

Q. I want to ask you a couple questions about Yamamoto. You've dealt with pitchers before. Is there something in his physiology, the way he approaches? What he did tonight is sort of unheard of.

DAVE ROBERTS: It's unheard of, and I think that there's a mind component, there's a delivery, which is a flawless delivery, and there's just an unwavering will. I just haven't seen it. I really haven't. You know, all that combined. And there's certain players that want moments and there's certain players that want it for the right reasons, but Yoshi is a guy that I just completely implicitly trust and he's made me a pretty dang good manager.

Q. Are there things, though, that is just part of his makeup? Does he throw differently? Because you usually are not able to do what he did tonight, throw a lot of pitches. And then is there something just in his style?

DAVE ROBERTS: Well, it's just he uses his body very efficiently. It's the whole engine that works and not just the arm. So he's just very efficient with his delivery.

Q. Can you just expand --

DAVE ROBERTS: I can't go into all that, no. No.

Q. My first question would be: How do you say bulldog in Japanese?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, good question. We had a lot of people that can answer that question.

Q. What he did tonight, what Buehler did in the 9th inning last year, I mean similarities? Differences? What did you see?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, similarities. Walker is obviously in Dodger lore, and Yoshi put himself right there with him, you know, throwing a hundred pitches and come back after one day off and going three innings. It's pretty crazy. I'm kind of crazy for sending him back out there. But I just felt he was the best option.

And, again, it's something that I just never imagined, but you got to trust players, and I believed in him, we all believed in him, and yeah, this game -- again, I'm having a hard time unpacking it, just what a great series, what a great game, and I think we're going to be talking about this game for a long time.

Q. You guys started in March in Japan, you started before anybody else, and you're the last team standing, and there's been a lot of ups and downs this season. If you could put that into a few words what this roller coaster's been like this year.

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, you can look back at the miles that we've logged this year. Brené Brown comes to mind. Grit, the real definition of grit, passion, and persevere for a long-term goal, and we never wavered. It's a long season. We started in Tokyo, and we kept going, and we persevered, and we're the last team standing.

Q. As you said, this was not just a great game, but a great series, and people talk about it in baseball mapping out innings. There was so many things that happened in this series that could not have been mapped out --

DAVE ROBERTS: It wasn't mapped out.

Q. What can you say about just these two teams just emptying the tank against each other?

DAVE ROBERTS: That's what it's about. Those guys, I got so much respect for what John does with his team and his staff and organization. They gave us everything they had. It was just a brawl, both teams fighting and punching back and responding. Yeah, I mean, I'm just speechless. I really am. It's going to go down as one for the ages, and as I'm answering, I kind of forgot your question. Did I answer your question?

Q. You used your entire rotation, these are things that we don't usually see?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, I think the thing is, is that you look around the room and you just see guys, and everyone wants to participate. You just got to figure out when is the right time to call their number, and know when to bet on 'em, when to push 'em, when to pull the plug. It just makes it a lot easier where I just know these guys are ready for whatever moment that I ask of 'em.

Q. I know Yoshinobu did really well, but this season and this whole year you had three Japanese players participating for the Dodgers. How do you evaluate those three players?

DAVE ROBERTS: They were all different. I think Shohei obviously has the weight of the world on his shoulders as far as expectations, being probably the face of baseball, certainly when you're talking about the world. And what he did on -- he's going to be the MVP in the National League. It's just really special what he's done. Just a great person and a great competitor.

Yoshinobu is one of the top pitchers in all of baseball. I think he's shown that this postseason and this year.

And Roki, Roki's a young player who really had a tough time early, and found a way to kind of get back to being healthy and really contribute in a huge way. So there's a lot of growth in Roki this year, and I know the people in Japan are very proud of their players, and we're just very lucky to have 'em.

Q. Just curious to know, with the offense struggling the way it was throughout the series, how does that impact the way you manage the pitching staff? What's the feeling in the dugout, knowing that this team really hasn't hit in the way that prior World Series champions have historically. How did you work that out with the pitching staff?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, you got to sort of -- they were grinding, but, yeah, we didn't swing the bats all postseason like we're capable of. So I think it's just more of, you're really trying to, on the margins, prevent as many runs as you can, because we weren't really expecting an offensive game. So certainly in a do-or-die Game 7, you're trying to do the best you can to prevent runs. But Miggy's hit, Will Smith's hit, just huge, huge hits. Again, I'm just exhausted (laughing).