LOS ANGELES (AP) – Dave Roberts was welcomed back to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday as the first minority manager in franchise history.
“This is my dream job,” he said during a news conference at Dodger Stadium attended by first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, former manager Tom Lasorda, and Dodger greats Don Newcombe and Maury Wills.
Co-owner Magic Johnson handed Roberts a No. 30 jersey that he hastily buttoned up over his blue dress shirt and blue-and-white striped tie. Roberts took his new Dodger hat and bent the brim before donning it.
Roberts said he was so focused on landing the job that he didn’t realize the magnitude of being the club’s first minority manager. His father is black and his mother is Japanese.
“There’s a lot of people that paved the way for me to ultimately have this opportunity,” he said. “That isn’t taken lightly.”