Dave Roberts grateful to be able to attend daughter’s college graduation: ‘Don’t feel like I’m being judged’

CHICAGO –– If you catch a shot of the LA Dodgers’ dugout on Sunday, don’t expect to see manager Dave Roberts on the top step.

Roberts is away from the team for Sunday’s series finale against the Chicago White Sox, having flown back to California on Saturday night to attend a college graduation ceremony for his daughter Elle the younger of his two children.

Bench coach Danny Lehmann will serve as interim manager for the day.

“This is my fourth and last one,” Roberts joked Saturday afternoon of his kids’ graduation ceremonies, with his daughter graduating from Stanford University this weekend.

“I’ve had two high school graduations, two college graduations … I can’t believe it. I shaved today to take away all the grays so I don’t look old. But I’m feeling a day older today.”

While there’s no turning back the clock, Roberts did note how he appreciates the way the culture of the sport has evolved over the years. Once upon a time, it would have been taboo for a manager to miss a game for such an occasion. Now, Roberts said he encourages his staff to be present for similar family celebrations.

“I think that’s one of the good things about the way the world has evolved, to where you do some things for mental health or your family and it’s not frowned upon that you care less about your job,” he said. “That should be applicable to everyone. It’s good to feel like I can go and I don’t feel like I’m being judged because I’m going to celebrate my daughter.”

For the sake of travel logistics, it helped that the White Sox scheduled a late afternoon start time for Saturday’s game. 

As soon as the last out was recorded, and the Dodgers slapped hands on the field after Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s near-perfect game and no-hitter, Roberts hustled back to his office, quickly got changed, and departed for the airport for a sentimental day off.

“You see it all around baseball,” he said. “People are doing things for their family, and paternity leave, things like that. It’s healthy.”

Miguel Rojas said he left Saturday’s game early after aggravating a lower right shin issue he has been dealing with the last couple days, but downplayed the issue as nothing too concerning.

During the seventh inning, Rojas exited after tweaking the injury while hopping out of the way of an inside pitch.

However, he described the decision as more of a precaution, not wanting to risk playing at less than 100% given Yamamoto’s push for a perfect game.

Rojas said he would be available off the bench Sunday.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters