Dave Roberts rewatches Dodgers Game 7 of World Series: ‘Best of all time’

Five months ago, Dave Roberts managed one of the great games in baseball history.

For most of the winter, he was almost afraid to go back and relive it.

“No, I haven’t,” Roberts joked at FanFest in January when asked if he watched a replay of Game 7 of last year’s World Series. “For fear that there might be a different outcome.”

Such was the drama of last year’s Fall Classic finale –– a 5–4 extra-inning, title-clinching thriller in which the Dodgers were two outs from defeat in the top of the ninth, mere feet from getting walked off in the bottom of the ninth, yet prevailed nonetheless to capture their second consecutive World Series and set up this year’s pursuit of a historic three-peat.

But this week, before the start of this new season, Roberts finally revisited that night, sitting down with the California Post to watch and analyze the game’s most critical sequences.

“I’m very nervous watching this,” Roberts quipped. “I know I lived it. But it could’ve been a dream.”

Bottom of the 3rd

Shohei Ohtani, pitching on three days’ rest and struggling with his command, runs into trouble in the third. George Springer leads off with a single and eventually advances to third. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is intentionally walked with a base open. And the Dodgers bring a hobbled Bo Bichette to the plate, hoping to induce a double play.

Roberts: “You could see it from the second inning, [Ohtani] didn’t really have his best stuff. And I think for me is, there was a handful of guys I was gonna pitch in this game. And the question you always gotta ask is: He got through the second inning giving up no runs, wasn’t completely sharp, so at what point do you want to introduce another pitcher and get that carousel going?”

Roberts didn’t introduce a new pitcher yet. And Bichette makes the Dodgers pay, hitting a hanging slider for a three-run homer that has Rogers Centre rocking and the Dodgers facing a deficit they would spend the rest of the game chipping away at. How was the team able to overcome the early adversity?

Roberts: “I think it probably came back to 2024, when we were down against the Padres. I really do. I think you look at ’21, ’22, ’23, you lose early. And then I just felt that when we came back from that [Padres] series, it just got that toughness, that grit, that fight. Because I look back to 2017, we gave up three runs early — and we just kind of mailed it in, in a Game 7. Whereas this game right here, even when we were down 3–0 in the third, there was fight.”

Top of the 9th

The Dodgers have gotten back within one run but are now down to their last three outs. As Kiké Hernández strikes out, Miguel Rojas steps on deck –– having been put in the lineup for Game 6, and remaining in for Game 7, despite not having a hit in a month.

Roberts: “I just felt that he was gonna give us a good at-bat. I don’t know, something in your gut. Once I decided to insert him into Game 6, I was gonna live and die with Miguel. Figuring he was going to impact us with the glove. But even right here, I just felt that he was gonna find a way to get on base. I think for me, it’s just betting on people that were gonna –– not literally –– but die on the field, doing anything he could to help his team win.”

Rojas works a full count against Jeff Hoffman, then takes the swing that saves the series, launching a home run to left field that tied the game.

“Here it is, right there,” Roberts said as Rojas connected on a slider in the zone.

As the ball sailed out, Roberts smiled and shook his head.

“That’s unbelievable,” he said.

More unbelievable moments were still to come.

Bottom of the 9th

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, fresh off throwing 96 pitches the night before, enters to try to extend the game. It was only around 2 o’clock that afternoon that Roberts knew Yamamoto would be available out of the bullpen. But now, he was putting the season on the right-hander’s shoulder.

Roberts: “He was our best pitcher. And when you get to these elimination games, and certainly a Game 7, it’s not about, ‘He’s never done this.’ Because he’s not a guy that’s gonna ever make an excuse. And you gotta go with your guys and your horses. And there was no better horse to have in the race.”

After hitting his first batter, Yamamoto faces Daulton Varsho and induces the ground ball he was looking for. At second base, Rojas stumbled, yet delivered a throw to the plate that barely beat baserunner Isiah Kiner-Falefa –– on a play that was reviewed to ensure catcher Will Smith’s foot hadn’t come off home plate.

Roberts: “I’m certain [in the moment] it was an out. But I didn’t appreciate that Will [Smith] got his foot up. But that’s just a perfectly executed split after a fastball [from Yamamoto]. And the thing I don’t think the thing people appreciate is that he threw a 1–1 heater to get him off the fastball. And Miggy falls, loses his balance, yet makes an accurate, strong throw. And Will gets his foot back on.”

The inning finally ends with one of the defining moments of the game, with Andy Pages tracking down a fly ball in the left-center field gap and barrelling over teammate Hernández to complete the catch.

Roberts: “It was so loud. You can talk about communication all you want. But it’s like selling out and doing everything [you can] to catch the ball. None of those guys relented. I mean, I just go back, and what are the odds of us getting out of that inning with no runs.”

Top of the 11th

After a scoreless 10th, Smith gives the Dodgers their first lead of the game with a home run off Shane Bieber, clobbering a 2–0 pitch into the Blue Jays’ bullpen.

Roberts: “Freddie [Freeman] gets credit for a lot of huge hits in his Dodger tenure. But, man, Will Smith has had some huge hits, too. … And that’s a 2–0 breaking ball right there, two outs, so he’s not giving into Will. And he hits a 2–0 homer. … And I think the people that watch don’t appreciate the fact that the pitch he doesn’t hit well is the curveball, the right-handed curveball. So they went to that curveball, and he squared it up.”

Bottom of the 11th

Yamamoto is back on the mound, trying to close out the game. However, Guerrero Jr. leads off with a double, and Addison Barger later draws a walk to put runners on the corners with one out. Up comes Alejandro Kirk.

Roberts: “I’m like, let’s just get out of this at worst with a tie. Because he’s not going to punch out. And interestingly enough, he’s pulling the ball, which he typically doesn’t like to do. … That’s what’s interesting right here, because we’re holding first base, so the hole [between first and second] is wide open. And if he would have had his approach to just shoot the four-hole, it could’ve been a different at-bat.”

Instead, Kirk breaks his bat on an 0–2 splitter. Mookie Betts fields his ground ball at shortstop, steps on second base for one out, then fires to first for a game-ending double play.

Roberts: “That’s unbelievable. I just cannot believe that happened. I’m thinking about a tie game. Thinking about, is Yamamoto gonna go back out there [or] who am I gonna pitch? And then, sure enough, a ground ball, we get two outs and the game is over … It took me a little bit to process we won the World Series.”

The Dodgers come pouring out of the dugout in celebration. Roberts is mobbed by his coaches in the dugout before stepping onto the field and victoriously raising his arms, his third World Series championship –– and a Dodgers dynasty –– having somehow been cemented.

Roberts: “That’s just pure elation right there. But it took a collective effort. I mean, everyone in the organization, to do what we did. And we had to get some breaks, and you get lucky. But you make your own breaks. And that’s baseball. That’s what makes sports so great. It’s gonna go down as one of the best of all time.”

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