Transcript

Dave Roberts Explains Why Shohei Ohtani Is The GOAT & Breaks Down The Dodgers’ World Series Run

From DOUBL3 COVERAGE PODCAST · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 43 min · 8,422 words · 116 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Dave Roberts Explains Why Shohei Ohtani Is The GOAT & Breaks Down The Dodgers’ World Series Run", an episode of DOUBL3 COVERAGE PODCAST published January 2, 2026 (43 min, about 8,422 words). It mentions 1 person, work or idea, including Spout Hall.

What this episode is about

Dave Roberts, the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, discusses the unparalleled talent of Shohei Ohtani, whom he considers the greatest player of all time, citing his unique ability to excel both as a pitcher and hitter. He also highlights other star players on the Dodgers, including Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, emphasizing their contributions and skills as the team prepares for their World Series run.

Key takeaways

  • Shohei Otani: Baseball's Batman, throwing heat and smashing homers. Even Babe Ruth tips his cap.
  • Mookie Betts: Swings a bat, bowls a strike, and drives a golf ball. Mic drop.
  • Clayton Kershaw: Retired, yes, but 18 seasons with one team? A rare loyal unicorn.
  • Matthew Stafford: NFL quarterback, but does he remind you he played baseball with Kershaw at every snap?
  • Shohei's generosity: Secretly funded teammate's mom's cancer treatment. A superhero on and off the field.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 42:41: Spout Hall

Notable quotes from "Dave Roberts Explains Why Shohei Ohtani Is The GOAT & Breaks Down The Dodgers’ World Series Run"

  • GPA my first quarter, but I got better after my first quarter and I flooded Spout Hall at UCLA. So, I had a rocky start to UCLA.
    about Spout Hall · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

Places & events

Full transcript with timestamps

Is Showi the goat? Show's a goat. Show a goat. Um, I'll tell you this. Barry Bonds is the best hitter I've ever seen. But as far as best player, he is by far the goat. I just he there's just no one close.

Ricky cook for dinner. We double coverage. This is the What's up, guys? Mystic Zack here. Welcome back to episode 11 of Double Coverage. Today, I'm honored and privileged to be joined by Doc, aka Dave Roberts, the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, four-time World Series champion, and a future Hall of Famer.

Zack, what's going on, man? Yeah, this is good. I I'm a big fan of you and I uh you know you remind me of some of my players uh the smart ones that are have vision uh that know how to handle themselves and then that have success and so for me it's good to kind of connect with you have a good conversation and I'm excited for this thing to go any different a lot of different ways.

We're ready we're ready to zigg and zag and and kind of get to the the core of it all but I think you got to drop a few names. Who are your favorite players on this team? You know, I I I I've got uh an embarrassment of riches uh first and foremost. Uh it's hard not to start with Show Otani and uh this guy um is not only a generational player. I I just think he's a uh one of one. And people use the term goat, one of one a lot, but a guy that can do what he does and then kind of take on the world, the burden of being the face of baseball, um is pretty special. So throwing 100 miles an hour, hitting 50 homers, stealing 50 bases.

Yeah. Um face of baseball. Show Otani Mooki bets. This dude um bow has bowled a dozen uh 300 games. Uh he is a three index in golf. Uh he can shoot threes, not like Steph, but it looks like Steph. Um he's uh you know won MVPs in baseball, been an all-star for nine years, won four rings. So Mookie Betts, it's hard not to to love him and think so highly of him. Freddy Freeman, there's no better clutch player than Freddy Freeman. Um you know, Will Smith, I call him uh vanilla because uh he's our catcher. Um and he's just a stud and he wants no there's no self-promotion.

Clayton Kershaw's the goat. just retired this year. So, uh, every baseball fan, Dodger fan knows Clayton. 18 years with the same team. How could you not?

How could you not? And I don't know if you know, but he played baseball with Matthew Stafford.

And he played baseball with Matthew Matthew. Every single NFL game, Matthew Stafford throws that fact out there.

No, that's right. But the thing is though is that towards the end when Clayton was going to retire, this was his last year, Matthew was at a lot of his games that he started. And those two guys were on the same high school baseball team. That's crazy. and they still got love for each other. So, I've been blessed with a lot of great players.

No, it's uh certainly an embarrassment of riches. And you know, we start with show. It's so hard to encapsulate what he does because there's no com there's nobody that's analogous to what the guy is doing. There's there's nobody I mean, we go back to Babe Ruth, but I I I'm like, it's like Patrick Mahomes if he was a lockown quarterback. Like, I don't How do you kind of describe Showi Atani to a casual observer? I I think the thing is is that it's like two people in one. And and I say that because, you know, we win the World Series this year.

He starts game seven. He goes almost three innings, doesn't have his best stuff, gives up a three-run home run to uh to Bett and uh Bo Bashette. He then has to recalibrate, compartmentalize that he's not pitching anymore. Now focus on the hitting. He gets two hits in that game. gets on base a third time, still is still a good teammate because if you think about this, you start a game, you don't pitch well, you're out mentally. Yeah. But he has to have the capacity to still post as a hitter. And so essentially, you're two people. So then as he gets ready for a major league game, you're getting ready from the the savage killer part of it as a pitcher because you control the game because you're pitching. But on the other side, you're getting ready as a hitter to be ready to take on five at bats. And then not only that is every single player in the ballpark that paid money that night is there to watch him. And you're not

talking about just the US, you're talking about all of Japan. Yeah. And you got Patrick Mahomes who now playing middle linebacker or he's Deion Sanders on an island.

Patrick Certain too. That's right. That's right. Yeah. Because now you're talking about a quarterback that's on the offensive and then now you got to go and think about the defense and be locked down. So I just He's one.

Yeah. He's stealing bases. I mean, unbelievable. And then you recently told a story about him paying for his teammate's mother's cancer treatment.

That's right. That's right. And that that's the thing is that and this was on on under the radar that I kind of blew the whistle on this a few years ago cuz you know guy we had in camp and you know I try to do things Zach early on in spring training and try to get our team together because in spring training there's a lot of players right? So pitchers hitters veterans young players, relievers, starters. So my job is to try to make this whole thing work. So what I try to do is introduce a player and I get to introduce a player, tell about the player, make jokes about the player, make them do some funny things, light hazing, so I don't want to get cancelled. It's just light. It's all in fun. And so one of our players said his mom's going through a bout of cancer. And then so show on the down low donated a ton of money for the care because they weren't getting the care.

And so I saw the mom in the World Series because he's now uh one of his brother is now with the uh with the Blue Jays and she sought me out and uh really thanked me for that in show as well.

Yeah, that's incredible. I love it. Incredible story. And we started the interview, you said embarrassment of riches. Now that can come with its challenges as well, right? I mean, you you're managing a nucleus of personalities of of superstars. I we haven't to my knowledge seen a roster with this type of capability. talk to me about managing this team the past two seasons winning uh World Series and kind of what you've had to overcome. I I think the thing is is that and I appreciate you asking a question because I I think that fans u media everyone loves talent because I think that what makes special players and and the attention is because people can't do it right and so the trick is every player has got to feel that they're valued. Um they've got to get theirs um understand their value which I completely understand. Um, but to win championships, you got to figure out how to make those individual great pieces

work together for the best interest of the group, the team. I manage the Los Angeles Dodgers. So, how can we say, okay, the ultimate goal is to win a championship, but along the way, this marathon of a journey, this climbing of a mountain, along the way, you're going to get your flowers at certain points, but we still got to be mindful of the goal. So, yeah. And I mentioned Freddy, Muki, Shi. I think for me, I'm just fortunate because

those guys are superstars, are the best workers. They're the most humble players I have.

And so I think that from that, it just sort of top down feeds it. But yeah, I still got to make sure that, you know, Freddy is valued and and Show gets his value. But it certainly, Zach, makes my job a lot easier. But it's not easy because everyone's got egos. And you know, when I have a job that if we don't win the championship, the World Series, one of 30 teams, we failed. And there's nothing in any sport, no team has the the expectation that the Los Angeles Dodgers have.

No, certainly. And you're you're not helping. And Yeah. Yeah. We're not helping. We've won two in a row. And And you know what's funny, Z, is we went to We went to We had the second parade. And so we're in Los Angeles and all I could see along in the city of Los Angeles is three people.

Three people. Yeah. No, we're expecting a three. I'm like, "Hey, man. We're This is a parade for for number two back to back." So, but that's that's what we set ourselves up for. It's all good.

No, absolutely. And other teams are spending as well. It's not like the Dodgers are the only ones spending. I mean, we saw the New York Mets and what they did last summer and um some early success, but obviously don't end up winning at all. But we've seen across all major sports this dream team moniker. Teams spend the salary cap and not get it done. I mean, I I recall the Philadelphia Eagles being dubbed the dream team and it goes up in flames. They don't make the playoffs. The cast of characters, the personalities becomes too much. In basketball, we saw the Phoenix Suns get Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. We saw the Nets have James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant. I mean, these teams, it's it's hard to fathom how they don't work out, but you need the right type of leader to kind of, you know, blend the personalities and make sure that things go smooth.

You do. You do. And I think the thing of it, which I've been managing for 10 years, and we've won three championships, I'm very grateful for and very proud of. Um, but I do think that it's about the fans, the interest, and I do think that with, you know, guys like yourself and social media and just fans in general, when you can put together when ownership groups of of different sports can put together, you know, dream teams or whatever they want to call it, I do think that it piqus the interest of the fan and you give yourself a better chance to win. But also on the business side, you're selling tickets and and people are watching. There's better viewership. So, you know, when you're getting great teams in the NFL, you're getting great teams put together in the NBA. Only one only one team can win. And when you're doing the same thing in baseball, you again, there's only one winner. But I do think that the ride

this season um makes it much more fun for everyone watching. Yeah. And a lot of critics have called out you guys for your tons of spending, right? billion dollar payroll, but I thought you had a really good rebuttal that I'd like you to expand on talking about that team should have a minimum spend. My hometown Marlins don't spend anything. So, talk to me about that and kind of how a salary cap could be implemented in baseball.

Yeah, you know, it's going to be interesting because uh you know, when I when I was talking to uh Kevin Hart about this, it was like, you know what, and Keenan Thompson, it was like I I I do think that I have an opinion. I have a right to an opinion. Um there's two sides because obviously you're looking at the ownership side and the owners, you know, want to manage spending and this is just a rudimentary kind of way of thinking about it. They want to kind of suppress, control spending, control it. And then on the player side, they want free will, free spending and you know, they don't want a a ceiling and they want a free market. And so I was a former player. I'm now a manager. My number one thing is I'm a baseball fan.

So I think for me it's it's to each his own. But I do think that you know I want competition and I think we all want competition. So uh you want parody. So every market whether you're the Marlins as you mentioned you're the Yankees and Mets. You're the Cubs and you got the White Socks in Chicago as well or you're the Pirates any team the Oakland A's um Sacramento A is going to be in Las Vegas. Now, you want to you want parody. So, I think for me, I love spending. I I think the fans deserve it. What I can speak to is the Dodgers. We drew 4 million fans last year, which is more than any sports franchise in the world.

Wow. Bar none. Um, and so what we do is we put a lot of our money back into the players, you know, from TV contracts to to ticket sales, we put that back. And I think that's what all players respect. And so I don't know how the inner workings for every ball club is. But I do feel Z that baseball is in the best place that it's ever been in. And for me again, number one, as a baseball fan, I don't want a stoppage in play. I want to keep that momentum going because I think that the players deserve it. I think the fans deserve it.

Absolutely. And you spoke about your playing career. You had a decade long career. most notably helped capture the World Series for the Red Sox 2004. While you're playing, are you thinking about a coaching career post ball?

Not at all. Um, I was at that point in time, I was a guy that signed for $1,000 out of UCLA. Um, I bet on myself to be a recruited walk-on to UCLA. Um, I went through the minor leagues for five years and then, um, I get had an opportunity to got traded from the Dodgers to the Red Sox and played with a bunch of superstars. Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Johnny Damon, Kurt Schilling, you name it. And um, we had a we had a great team. Went win the World Series, Manny Ramirez. In 2004, I was a bench player at that time, was a starter with the Dodgers and relegated to the bench, but I just said, "You know what? I'm going to be the best teammate I possibly can."

Had an opportunity to steal a big base against the Yankees and um wasn't afraid to fail and I was called safe. We ended up winning eight straight games in a row. Come back down 3-0 to the Yankees in the ALCS, win four in a row. That was game four. um and then sweep the uh Cardinals in four. And I think the Red Sox nation just felt that Dave Roberts stolen base was the turning point of that postseason. So that's why I think it's kind of like footnoted there and I'm always looked at in and good in a good light um from that fan base, which is drinks there. I don't have to buy drinks there.

So I think for me it was like yeah, I bet on myself and I had an opportunity. I wasn't afraid to fail. And that's a message I think that, you know, I I really believe in.

Yeah, absolutely. So, when do you when do you get the idea to get into coaching? When does that happen?

So, I I I go play and then um not a lot of people know this is after I retired in 2008. I was going to retire. I was done. So, I was 36 years old at that time. And then I did a year of of uh broadcasting. So, I got behind the mic for for a minute and I did some Red Sox baseball games. I did some radio and then I felt like I wanted to be a part of it. That just wasn't me. I would spent my whole life being in the clubhouse on the field and then so the next year I did some front office stuff. So, I wanted to get the kind of a different perspective. So, uh I worked in the front office for the San Diego Padres's. My home is San Diego. So that was convenient. So I did that and I got to a bigger you know 10,000 20,000 view of how baseball works which was helpful for me.

Yeah. And then the next year in 2010 I got diagnosed with Hodkins lymphoma. So that was a big you know time in my life where I had cancer. I have two young kids and you know when anyone hears cancer they're like I'm going to and so that was like scary for me. And then I ended up having uh chemotherapy, radiation, and beat cancer. So I'm a cancer survivor. Thank you, Z. I appreciate that. So I survived cancer. And then the next year, I got offered a major league coaching job with the San Diego Padres's. And then from that point, I coached the in the big leagues for five years. And that's where started my coaching career, which I never foraw.

I was sort of just live my life daytoday job to job job and try to keep my focus narrow.

Got it. But coming out of high school, you also had a football offer. I did, man. I was uh my my bad knees and we're here hanging out right now and my knees just don't work like they used to. But I was an option quarterback so I could run a little bit. So I was uh I was going to go play football at the Air Force Academy. And um I I love football. I still love football. Um, it's my first love, my passion. I don't think I would have been the baseball player I would have, the grit, the toughness if I didn't have a football background.

But at the end of the day, um, my father was was in the Marines or at served in the Marines, and he was like, "Son, don't do this for me. Don't go to the the service, the Air Force for me. You got to love the service to go through all that in entails." and he goes, "If you want to go to college and go the regular route, go for it." And then that's all I needed to hear. So, Zach, I'm at my uh senior class giving my senior class speech and I'm prepared to go to uh the Air Force Academy. And then a couple weeks later, I had to call Air Force and say, "Hey, I'm not going to go there. I'm going to, you know, try something else." And so, at that point, I'm basically knocking on doors at colleges saying, "I want to play baseball for you, and will you take me?"

Wow. And you end up at UCLA. I end up at UCLA because coach Adams said, "We don't have any money for you. Um, but we'll take you." I got into school myself on my own merits and so I didn't get any scholarship money and had to earn my way.

Do you think going through that still positively affects you as a player in the major leagues? you as a manager just battling that adversity, not always having everything given to you, having to be a walk-on, having to fight for your spot.

I do. I do. And you know, and I'm not some old guy, some chromogen guy. I'm not at all. I I love the youth. I love guys, you know, people making it happen as younger people. But I will say that, you know, I was never a person that tried to chase short money. Um, and I I think that for me the foundational hard work, you know, put your head down and just grind. And, you know, it's not going to be linear. There's going to be tough things that happen in your life and you got to continue to persevere. Um, I do think that helped me in my career. I think it also helps me as a manager of people and also of of a baseball team because 162 is a lot of games. Um there's a lot of highs and lows and then also when you got the postseason you got expectation of the Dodgers. So you know to to get the highest of highs in April then to kind of go down that doesn't play. You've got to be able to be consistent and I do

think that kind of my path helped me. Absolutely. Talk to me about the balance of you as a manager between analytics which we all know about saber metrics. saw Moneyball. We've seen the introduction of that into the sport and just trusting your gut being around baseball so so long.

I I think that it's it's a balance. Um analytics data information facts all five of those words, it's the same thing. They're all the same thing. They all mean the same thing. It's just how you want to say it. Um they all have their place in in all sports, in all industries, not just sports, finance, real estate, whatever you want to talk about. Um, I think it's a good baseline uh to have. Um, but I think at the end of the day and I think the analytics is a longer term situation because you need a longer a bigger sample size to make the numbers play out.

Yeah. But I think that in one particular moment when you make a decision, whether it's going for it on fourth down, whether it's, you know, pinch hitting for somebody, whether it's me taking out a pitcher, whether it's uh, you know, going to a guy in when you got 5 seconds left on the clock, you're going with your gut cuz you're betting on people. Um, and I think that for me, it's taken time to really appreciate that. I I don't really know a situation of how to say is it 5050, is it 6040? It's case by case, but I do think that the analytics is a good kind of barometer on how I kind of manage my club, but then at the end of the day, you're betting on people to make plays.

What was a moment for you this postseason where you bet on someone to make a play?

A moment I I bet on Miguel Rojos. I I bet on Miguel Rojos, uh, who's a veteran player from Venezuela. Uh he's got 10 years of service. Um you know he was a utility guy for us. I I just love Miggy Row and uh he wasn't playing in the postseason starting but I I felt we were down 3-2 to the Blue Jays going to Toronto and I said you know what I'm going to bet on Miguel Rojos. I need to bet on Miguel Rojos. And nothing in analytics would say that I would bet when Max Scherzer, Future Hall of Fame, was starting that game that he should play. Um, and then they had a bullpen game in game seven. If there was going to be a game seven, Miguel Roa should play. But I said, I'm going to bet on this guy. He made a couple big defensive plays and he hit the big tying home run against their closer in game seven in the ninth inning to tie the game. That was all gut.

Wow. Is that something you've picked up in your now 10 years experience as a manager or were you always kind of going with your gut? I I've learned um I I think earlier on my career I would I would go more on the analytic side because I think in anything when you're trying to establish yourself and you've got critics or bosses and media um you you you have to kind of not do things the right way but there's a more of a careful part of it because a lot of things have to sort of make sense and right or wrong. Um, but when you go rogue or you're going with your gut, it's not quantifiable. And when you're trying to establish yourself, that's hard to justify. And I'm not apologizing for it. That's real life. Um, but then when you've kind of supplanted yourself, cemented yourself in a certain role, you've got more grace. You've got more latitude. And again, that's just not my job. That's any job.

Yeah. No, you have a longer leash when you win three World Series championship.

You have more leash. And so I think that that's kind of played into it, but it's also helped me and I've continued to gain the respect of, you know, people that I work for, people that I work with, my players, and you know, I I'm proud of that that I've been able to evolve.

I love that. And it shows in all sports. Coach Bellich, I mean, as he had evolved success, ends up becoming the general manager making all the roster decisions. So that leash becomes longer and you gain the trust.

Coach Bichc is the greatest coach of all time. Um, and nothing against Vince Lombardi or anybody else, but you know, with what he's done, but whether he was from the Jets or early on the Patriots, he's a diff he was a different guy and and that comes with kind of understanding who you are as a as a man, as a leader of men, as a coach, and then also getting that leash. And that that's part of it. It wasn't always his way of the highway. It wasn't. And so, as he started to get better and get great, he had that respect.

Look what he does with Lawrence Taylor and the Giants and then the Patriots. And people don't, he was general manager. He was finding that talent. I mean, you look at the 2017, they go undefeated. But Vince Wilfork and all these guys, they don't grow in trees. He had to go out and draft them. So Rodney Harrison, uh there's so many great defenders on those rosters that he went out and got as a defensive guy to surround Brady.

That's right. And then even like you're talking about Sabin, uh I went to Alabama to watch Alabama game a month ago. Uh coach Dbor is a good friend of mine. though Alabama's got a big game this week uh in the Rose Bowl and I had the pleasure of being coach Sabin. Coach Sabin early on his career he would not have taken out Jaylen Herz and then put in Tua at halftime. You know what I'm saying? Like that's a bold move. It is.

You know, in a national championship game, but then he was Nick Sabin at the time where it didn't matter what he did and if it didn't work, he's still Nick Saving the GOAT.

He is. Yeah. Yeah. We got to test your knowledge. We got a big time week coming up in the NFL. Oh, we got some really big matchups here. I mean, most notably Saturday, the San Francisco 49ers taking on the Seattle Seahawks. It's going to be in Santa Clara. 49ers coming off a nailbiting victory over the Chicago Bears. What's your analysis on this matchup Dave?

You know, I I I don't know the line. Um it's in it's close. We'll just pick, you know, we're going to do we're money line today.

Okay. Money line. I I like it's going to Seattle's tough up there at home. Um I like

it's going to be it's going to be San Francisco. Oh, San Francisco. I I got San Francisco all day. I got San Francisco. I think Brock Pretty is playing some really good football. Um not having Fred Warner, the anchor on the defense, is certainly took a hit taking a hit, but um I I I like I like the Niners at home.

Yeah, I think it's going to be tough for them coming off this Chicago Bears game. I think it took a lot out of them.

It did. It did. And that's a physical game. Yeah. And this is got to remember this game's also going to be on Saturday.

Yep. Yep. That's fair. That's absolutely fair. Um I'll still take uh the Niners at home.

All right. Yeah. Niners obviously pretty, you know, a lot of success. I I've been a big Seahawks guy all year. So early on I touted them. I I looked at the plus 1300 to win the NFC. I said, "This is a great value. Go out, take it." They're being overlooked. They don't necessarily have the bigname stars that these other NFC teams do, but they've been pretty dang good since then. Um done their thing. Darnold, I think, prove proven a lot of people wrong these past few seasons. And I love this defense. I love that you get Demarcus Lawrence from the Dallas Cowboys. I love that you pair him with Leonard Williams. You take that swing, you trade for him when a lot of people said they gave up too much. And then the uh Witherspoon at quarterback been dominant, locked down. I have a feeling the 49ers don't see the same success they did against Chicago. I think the Seahawks win a close one.

I I like that. I I can see it. I can see it. I mean, the winners at top the NFC. It's a huge game.

No, absolutely. And uh I I I absolutely can see that. Um Smith and Jigba uh he's a

That's the part that worries me is they It's JSN or the highway. It is. It is. That's right. That's right. That's exactly

It really is. I I mean, no, in the history of the NFL, seldom do you find a team whose air yards are hogged by as much as JSN hogs their air yards. Yeah. There's very little else.

Very little else. And that's like a little bit of like what Justin Jefferson was uh you know, for you know, with with Minnesota. But yeah, if we could take him, we I say if the Niners can take him out we

I'm a Southern California guy. I'm not going to say we. We uh but yeah, we'll see. It'll be a good one though.

You know, it'll be a great one. And then the other big one to me that jumps off the map, Ravens Steelers. I mean, DK Mechaf out. He has that that incident with a fan. Did you ever have fans taunt you? Did Were you ever tempted to pull a DK Mechaf?

All the time, man. I I I I man, I wanted to do that so many times. And I guess I had opportunity because there were there weren't camera phones early on in my career and social media. So, I I should have taken my shots, but uh but especially in baseball, man, and you're you're in an 0 for four, 0 for eight, you punch out, and you got these fans right by the dugout just wearing you out. You just want to go up there and uh take them out. So, you don't ever want to condone what DK did, but but I've been wanting to do that at certain times, though. But, it's going to be a good one. I I think uh I don't know how the Steelers uh lost that game. Um I'm a Steeler fan. I I know those guys.

Oh, you are? Yeah, because I'm more fan of the coaches. I They were more focused on stopping Miles Garrett than they were scoring points.

Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, that that that's fair. Uh but stopping Miles Garrett, you know, you could argue that that facil facilitates or gives you a better opportunity,

you would imagine. Just you would think. Um they just didn't play well, but obviously not having DK certainly helped. They didn't have anyone to go to. And uh it it's going to be a good one. And it always seems in that division it comes down to the Ravens and the Steelers.

Yeah. So, do you think Mike Tomlin can pull it? It's at Pittsburgh. I got I got Coach Tomlin, man. And And you know what's funny is that this guy has done nothing but win. And uh it's crazy that people think that he just forgot how to coach.

Yeah. No, people want him fired. They want him fired. And it's just like he he's he is unbelievable. And players still got to make plays. and um you know he's always going to back his players, but Mike Tomlin hasn't forgot how to coach. And so, you know, this one game at home for the division, I'll take Coach Tomlin.

Yeah. I mean, 18 straight winning seasons and the fans are calling for his job.

Yep. That's sports though. That That's sports. That's sports. And And you can even look at it. Kansas City, you know, not that they're calling for Coach Reed's job, but you know what what Kansas City has done is unprecedented in their

I've seen people say he's he's passed it now because of this season. So yeah, and I'll argue is that that's the thing about coaching is, you know, on the playing side, there's a father time component where you get into your mid30s and you're really going downhill. But on the coaching side, the experience part of it, the older you get, and I think that you're operating at the optimum capacity when you when you are in your early 60s because that's when you're you're fully functional. And they talk about guys, uh, we mature a lot slower than girls and we don't really develop until 25 and that's when we start to start to begin, right? And so right in the early 60s, I think that's when you're peaking. So, uh, Coach Tomlin, Coach Reed, they're still still great coaches.

That's scary for the MLB. You still got some years left. Oh, yeah. I don't know how long I'm going to do it for, but I got four years of a contract and then we'll go from there.

All right. All right. I've got the Baltimore Ravens. I'm sorry. Okay. I think they're going to send new guys.

We're on both sides. Yeah, we are. We're you got you got Tech in in college. You got Seattle Road Dog and then now you got uh the Ravens.

I do have the Ravens. I think I feel the strongest about them. Damn. Okay. Derrick Henry and the Cole.

All right. Well, hopefully at some point, Zach, we're going to we're hopefully we can agree on something. I I I you know, if I try your wine, I'd probably agree. It's pretty great. Talk about Red Stitch and your love of wine and your your vineyard. So I think that like so as a as a player in the big leagues I played for 10 years and you know you've been hustling since you were you know in high school and doing your thing and so to be great at something you've got to be laser focused right so when I took a trip up to the Napa Valley in 2002 with Shawn Green my teammate and his wife Lindsay and my wife I was up in Napa and I went and met the vineyard uh the wine makers the v vineyard owners and tasting through wine and I didn't like wine. I was a beer drinker. Um, you know, in college you're drinking beer and tequila, whatever. You're drinking bad tequila. Um, but I was up there and you're you're drinking wine and the

weather was great up there and my wife looks at me and goes, "Something's different about you." And I'm like, "What are you talking about?" She's like, "You're present." And I was like, "Oh, damn. I am present." And like I wasn't caring about a phone. I was like into the conversations. I was asking dumb questions about wine and grapes cuz I didn't know anything. And I look back and I was like, I love how I feel.

Yeah. And so she calls me Napa Dave to this very day where it's like I'm in the season. She's like, man, I wish Napa Dave was here. You know, because I'll call, check in, check a box, and not really hear an answer. But so once I was done playing, I was like, I got to get into wine in some capacity. So I hit up my good friend John Msik and his wife Noel and uh Rich Aurelia and his then wife um so Richie and I were teammates and then so we started this venture called Red Stitch wine and so my brother-in-law Chad named the wine Red Stitch cuz it's the stitches on a baseball and then so we start out with Napa Cabernet, we got a pen noir and we got Chardonnay. So it's red stitch the stitches on a baseball. It's fantastic wine and when I'm drinking wine when I'm having hanging out I'm present and I like that feeling.

Has LeBron tried it yet? So LeBron uh I sent a case of our cab to LeBron about three years ago and I'm still waiting on a thank you.

So uh LeBron, if you're listening, I'm still waiting on the thank you and uh I'm going to be seeing you guys play the Pistons tomorrow night. Um, and then, uh, I got more Red Stitch for you. How about that?

Yeah, I You deserve it. Thank you. I think he should do like an Instagram review, maybe. He's a big time wine guy.

He's He's a big wine guy. Um, so he's into wine. Um, he's the goat. I'm into golf. He's getting into golf. So, we got a lot of things that we're we uh we we uh similarities.

We're calling LeBron the goat. Well, I mean, so Michael's my guy. Okay. Michael's my guy. So, so I I I think that but again I I think Steph Curry's a goat.

They're all goats. Okay. You know what I and and now I'm being political. They are all great. So, but if you had to go one

It's Michael for Okay, good. I got I got to go Mike. Thank you. So, the Outdoor Golf League, talk to me about that as well. Your rep is that. So, is the hat is that? That's Dodgers upside down.

This is Dodgers. This is uh this is the the brand that uh you got drip. This is a Yeah, this is like I got a little drip. This is a present from my son and so my son knows this brand. It's an LA brand.

Yeah. Know it's a dope brand. Keep up with the hype, right? Yeah. Something like that. Yeah.

You got drip. Keep the hype. All right. Yeah. You know, you know, you know what? You're you're a young buck.

Yeah, I like it. So, I I got a little drip right here. Um so, yeah. So, I'm into golf. And so, uh we got this uh grass clippings in uh Phoenix. And so we turned this uh Rolling Hills golf course into a par three night golf. So we can play golf in the day, but we got lights, we got music, it's a vibe. And so I invested in that. And then so that's crushing it. So when you're flying into Phoenix, you see the lights on, you're playing, and uh during spring training, I get the athletes, the baseball players, and get them. They're they're playing all throughout the spring. And basketball players are playing during their season.

And are you attending? I'm attending. And then that turned from the Grass Clippings, the the the golf course itself into a grass league. So I I'm a member of the LA Roses and we just won the last tournament. And so Mark Wahlberg is an owner. We got 12 to 14 teams. Marky Mark's a member. So it it's a great league and it's kind of like following like the the Tiger, the F1, you know, just different leagues that are kind of kind of coming out on their own, you know. So it's blown up.

No double coverage. We're going to head out there. We're going to cover this thing.

Double coverage comes out. Uh I'll take you guys out. Um you guys can do it from there. It's part three. So you don't get too beat up if you can't swing a golf club. Cocktails, music, uh Arizona in the winter. It's perfect.

I'm in. I'm down. Yeah. Last thing. We talked about goats in basketball. Is show the goat?

Show's a goat. Show a goat. Um I'll tell you this. Barry Bonds is the best hitter I've ever seen. I can't speak to Babe Ruth. Can't speak to Mickey Manel, Ted Williams, um you know, you know, all these guys. Orlando Sepeda, but uh Roberto Clemeni, but Barry Bonds is the best hitter I've ever seen. But as far as best player, most talented player, he is by far the GOAT. I just he there's just no one close.

Thank you. Oh, yeah. Adversity. Yeah. So, you know, and I I've talked about my successes and but how do you I just think that, you know, you and I touched on a little bit where it's like there's successes, but there's also a lot of failures.

Yeah. And um and it's funny is that where whether I you know started you Darvish in in 17 and he doesn't pitch well um you know could I be blamed for that but we find out later they're stealing signs. Um, you know, there's times that I brought in relief pitchers and big spots and they don't perform and it's looked at as a failure, but I've done a lot of things and had the same process that worked out and they're successes. So, a lot of things I think for me is, you know, you can go back and look at the internet, you can go back print media and say all the different times that I failed or things didn't go our way and I take the brunt of the blame. But honestly, I I think for me is the process has to be sound and I don't just try to go rogue and there's a process and whether it's a belief in a player um that might not necessarily add up to analytics, but it's something it's still a process that I go through with

coaches um and I make a decision. Um I'm just trying to think of, you know, certain things that didn't go well. Um, I just honestly said, "F it." And I think whether it's me having cancer and going, "F it. I'm going to beat this." Whether it's I'm on first base in game four, we're down a run. Mariano Rivera pitching and if I get thrown out, we lose, we're eliminated in the postseason. But I said, "F it." Um, whether I bring in a pitcher, I take I'll tell you this, Zach. There was a pitcher this year in the postseason. I took him out, Emtt Sheen, a young prospect pitcher in the middle of an at bat against the Cincinnati Reds in the wildard series in the middle of an at bat because I felt I had a guy in the bullpen warming up and I felt EMTT wasn't going to be able to get this left-hand hitter out at that moment in time and I just said, "F it." It was unorthodox, but I said, "F it. I'm going

to do it because I feel But if that guy would have come in and given up a home run, I would have been a clown.

Yeah. But I just said, "F it. I'm going to do it." And it worked out. He got He struck the guy. Alex Vessia struck the guy out. And so there's things that I guess to a point that you know what you you have your journey and you're crushing it, but at the same point it's like you can't worry about what other people think. And I think I don't know when that really point of happened in my life, but I just sort of lived my life that I just can't chase validation from people.

Yeah. I It's so hearing you say that. I felt the exact same way in my career, you know, where like even, you know, the handful of massive decisions that I've made, the one time I didn't go with what I truly felt that wasn't my gut. It's the one that panned out the worst. So after that, like when I like, you know, confideive my family and friends, they say, "Zack, you know, when we went away from what you wanted, we saw what happened. So what do you think?" Right? You're always right. And uh I feel very similar.

Yeah. Well said. Before we head out, what's one thing about Dave Roberts that nobody knows? Gosh, one thing that that uh people don't know, um I'm a foodie, but people might know that because you you're going to pair wine with food. Um I'm half Japanese, so I definitely love to sleep. Um I can say that about Japanese people because I'm Japanese. I love I love my naps. Um you know, uh

I love naps as well. Do you think I could be half Japanese? You know what? Yeah, you might be half Japanese.

I'm a big nap guy. Yeah, you you might uh Yeah. What? I'm kind of an open book. Um I did I might have gotten in a little bit of trouble when I was at UCLA. Um when I was at UCLA, I was a freshman and I was living in a dorm. Me and my buddy were uh playing catch with a football in the dorm on I think the third floor. So, he hits the sprinkler because I'm I'm in this we're in the studio right now and there's these sprink sprinklers right there. And so, uh my buddy hits his sprinkler. Zach, I'm telling you, it gushed out and it started flooding the floor.

Oh my god. And so we both bolted the other way, opposite ways down the stairwell, flood the whole dorm, and we're trying to contemplate, do we tell our, you know, tell ourselves and and admit that it was us, or do we just act like we don't know what the heck happened, why this dorm was flooded. So we ended up confessing and I ended up having 40 hours of community service. We flooded the entire dorm and the people said, "If I wouldn't have told, we would have got kicked out of UCLA." That was my first quarter at UCLA. So, that's something I try to keep under wraps that my GPA, I don't want to talk about my GPA my first quarter, but I got better after my first quarter and I flooded uh Spout Hall at UCLA. So, I had a rocky start to UCLA.

There you go, Dave. Appreciate you. Thank you for your time. Would love to run it back. And we're going to hit that golf league.

Oh, 100%. Exactly. And we're going to we're going to pop open this red stick. We're going to pop open this red stick. We're going to start with some pino. Then we're going to BJ waiting in the wings.

Yeah, BJ's waiting in the wings. Yeah. So, we're going to And we got Neville back there from Orange County. He's half Japanese. So, we got people on the set

and I we learned that I am. And then we're going to get you drinking some wine, too. There you go.

Okay. All right. Let's do it. Napa Zack.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Dave Roberts Explains Why Shohei Ohtani Is The GOAT & Breaks Down The Dodgers’ World Series Run"?

Zack (Mystic Zack) (Host), Dave Roberts (Guest), BJ (unidentified) (Guest), Neville (unidentified) (Guest).

What is "Dave Roberts Explains Why Shohei Ohtani Is The GOAT & Breaks Down The Dodgers’ World Series Run" about?

Dave Roberts, the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, discusses the unparalleled talent of Shohei Ohtani, whom he considers the greatest player of all time, citing his unique ability to excel both as a pitcher and hitter. He also highlights other star players on the Dodgers, including Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, emphasizing their contributions and skills as the team prepares for their…

What is mentioned in this DOUBL3 COVERAGE PODCAST episode?

1 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Spout Hall. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Dave Roberts Explains Why Shohei Ohtani Is The GOAT & Breaks Down The Dodgers’ World Series Run"?

The episode runs 43 min; the transcript is about 8,422 words in 116 timestamped sections.

More from DOUBL3 COVERAGE PODCAST

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.