Dave Roberts reveals he was ‘afraid’ of World Series coming back to Los Angeles

First the final pitch was thrown, then a champagne celebration, and finally the Los Angeles Dodgers had their first championship parade in 36 years. What's next for manager Dave Roberts? He can finally be fully candid about everything he felt as his team worked towards their championship.

Most would assume that Roberts was confident in the team's ability to win after going up 3-0 against the New York Yankees in the World Series, but he quickly grew nervous after an 11-4 Yankees rout in Game 4. The nerves became worse when the Dodgers fell behind 0-5 in Game 5 before pulling off a miraculous comeback in the bottom of the fifth inning that propelled them to their eighth World Series victory.

In a recent appearance on Mookie Betts' podcast "On Base With Mookie Betts," Roberts opened up about wanting to finish the Yankees off in New York.

"I was so afraid to come back to Los Angeles for Game 6," said Roberts. "If we were to come back, the noise, the pressure, becomes real because then you're gonna start potentially being part of history in the wrong way."

Regarding his approach to Game 5, he asserted that he "managed with urgency, even when we were down 5-0."

The strategy clearly worked as the Dodgers won the World Series, but to better understand Roberts' fears, it is necessary to go all the way back to his playing days.

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Dave Roberts was on the winning side of the MLB's only ever 'reverse sweep'

Coming back from down 0-3 in a best-of-seven series is a rare feat. It has only been done five times in major North American professional sports, including once in MLB history: the Boston Red Sox against the Yankees in the 2004 ACLS.

One can argue that Roberts started the rally in Game 4. Down a run at the bottom of the ninth inning, Roberts stole second base and went onto score the tying run. The Red Sox won in extras and the rest is history.

Blowing a 3-0 lead is one of the most embarrassing things a professional team can do. If the Dodgers had gone back to Los Angeles for Game 6, they would have given much of the momentum they built during Games 1, 2, and 3 to the Yankees. Had they lost Game 6, things would have been extremely tense going into Game 7. Intimately familiar with these shifts, Roberts and wanted to keep the series short, avoiding this doomsday scenario altogether.

Drawing on his own experience with the 2004 Red Sox, Roberts offered some insight into the 2024 Yankees' mentality. "You're down 3-0, you're at the point where you have nothing to lose now," he said. "Everyone is expecting you to lose anyway, so now that, for me, is freeing, so they played free, won Game 4."

The Yankees may have won Game 4, but Roberts and the Dodgers dug deep and won Game 5, proving that Game 4 was just a fluke and avoiding Roberts' fear of going back to Los Angeles for Game 6. Instead, the Dodgers returned to Los Angeles as champions.