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LOS ANGELES — Dave Roberts on Tuesday was named the 2016 National League Manage of the Year, the first Dodgers skipper to win the award in 28 years.
Roberts received 16 of 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America, beating out Cubs manager Joe Maddon for the award, with Dusty Baker of the Nationals finishing third. Both Baker and Maddon are three-time Manager of the Year winners.
Roberts got 16 first-place votes, seven second-place votes and seven third-place votes, appearing on all 30 ballots. Points were awarded on a 5-3-1 basis.
The Dodgers won 91 games in Roberts’ first season, winning a fourth consecutive National League West division title. All that was with 28 different Dodgers getting placed on the disabled list, including missing Clayton Kershaw for over 10 weeks.
“For me and the coaches, just preparing every single day to get better, regardless of any type of circumstance we were confronted with. Our guys bought into that,” Roberts said on MLB Network. “With all the players we had on the disabled list, the injuries and the days they compiled, it really didn’t affect how we prepared each day.”
Roberts also guided a team that featured six rookie position players account for 20.4% of the non-pitcher plate appearances on the team, and saw rookie pitchers make 70 starts, the latter the most in franchise history since 1903.
“Doc has a great baseball mind, is a great communicator, possesses endless energy and is relentlessly optimistic. He has been remarkably consistent since the first day of spring training which is extremely difficult to do in the roller-coaster ride that is a major league season,” said Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman in a statement. “He was able to maintain that through our low points as well as our high points. Congratulations to Dave and his amazing family on an incredibly, special accomplishment.”
The Dodgers have had just two winners of the Manager of the Year Award, which has been given out since 1983. Tommy Lasorda captured NL honors in both 1983 and 1988, but that has been it. In the interim, two Dodgers managers finished second in the award voting — Jim Tracy in 2001, and Don Mattingly in 2013.