LOS ANGELES — Dave Roberts stayed true to himself throughout his first year as Dodgers manager, and that conviction and the ability to relate to his players went a long way in him winning the 2016 National League Manager of the Year Award on Tuesday, as voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Roberts as a player didn’t make his major league debut until he was 27, after nearly six years in the minors and 2,721 plate appearances on the farm in the Tigers and Indians systems. From that he carved out a 10-year major league career, including parts of three seasons with the Dodgers (2002-04).