LA Dodgers: Manager Search Bringing Back Familiar Faces

Jun 15, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres interim manager Dave Roberts (8) looks on during the seventh inning against the Oakland Athletics at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

This past week the LA Dodgers interviewed two candidates for their vacant manger position.

It seems besides being former Dodgers players both candidates have very little in common.

When both were players, one was a slick-fielding lead off hitter who used speed an guile to make the majors at 27-years old.

The other played baseball like his hair was on fire, a former All-American outfielder from Michigan State, who is a link to the Dodgers magical World Series win in 1988.

One candidate has never managed at the Major League level and the other had a chance that started brightly and then flamed out.

The candidates I’m referring to are current San Diego Padres bench coach Dave Roberts and former Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson.

If the Dodgers name one of these two to be their tenth manager since moving to Los Angeles, their selection will either be historic or they will be hearkening back to their past.

Both candidates will be looking to bring something that the Dodgers sorely lacked with Don Mattingly as their manager.

Dave Roberts could emphasize the speed game that made him one of the best base thieves in the game as he was successful to the tune of 81 percent.

Kirk Gibson, known for his fiery personality when he played could bring some of that intensity to the Dodgers, who at times looked like they could be sleep walking through a game.

Gibson could instill the team with a winning attitude that every game and situation should be treated as if its Game 7 of the World Series.

For Roberts, the son of an African-American father and Japanese mother, his hiring would be historic, as he would be the first Dodgers manager of African-American decent.

For a team that links its legacy to the breaking of the color barrier in baseball, it would continue a legacy of diversity that team President Stan Kasten highlighted when he said, “No franchise in pro sports history has had as great of a social impact as the Dodgers,”

Hiring Kirk Gibson wouldn’t be historic but it does hearken back to Dodgers history.

Gibson’s Dodgers career is much more than a singular moment, in what is described as the greatest sports moment in the history of Los Angeles.

Kirk Gibson’s Game 1 World Series pinch-hit game-winning home run is a link to the elusive World Series title that has stretched now 28 years.

There are risks with choosing either candidate as well.

For Roberts, despite being a coach with the Padres since 2010, Roberts has never managed  at any level in professional baseball for a team seeking it’s first World Series berth in 28 years having a rookie manager may put that in jeopardy.

Bottom Line: Whatever comes, things will be different.

For Gibson despite taking the Diamondbacks to the playoffs in 2011 he was never able return to the postseason during his tenure and was fired after the 2014 season when his team lost 94 games.

If the Dodgers hire Roberts or Gibson, it will be a change from the Mattingly years, whether they decide to make the historical move or go back to their history is yet to be determined.