The New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers were supposed to be the ultimate showdown, or what Derek Jeter claimed was a ‘dream series.’ But the Yankees’ run for the precious rings left fans more than a little letdown. The reason? Well, Joe Kelly from the Los Angeles Dodgers has a one-word blunt reply—laziness! While he didn’t give out names, let’s be real, it’s not tough to guess which Yankee stars failed to come to the clutch. But Kelly didn’t stop there; he also highlighted the Yankees as an underwhelming team, noting they were the eighth or ninth-best team in the postseason.

And while some might disagree, Joe has someone who strongly stands by this notion—Dave Roberts. Now, Roberts might be getting some playful trolling for his quirky dance moves, but he is crystal clear about where his opinions stand. Roberts didn’t hesitate to keep that Yankee-Dodger rivalry alive on a podcast with his team’s stellar star, Mookie Betts. He dragged the San Diego Padres into the mix, saying that a showdown with them was way more electric than with the Yankees. Clearly, for him and the Dodgers team, the Yankees were no match.

Dave Roberts feels the Yankees are not in the same league

Any game is best fought between equals. But for Dave Roberts, the most intense battle wasn’t the much-anticipated World Series clash with the Yankees. Rather, their showdown with the San Diego Padres in the Division Series. “Against the San Diego Padres, I felt, from my perspective, that it was the World Series,” said the Dodgers manager to Mookie Betts. But he didn’t stop; there he even went to say for him, the San Diego Padres were the big challenge.

Dave Roberts said at the podcast On Base with Mookie Betts, “When you play a team as much as that, the novelty, the factor, that’s all gone. They were no longer afraid of us.” Roberts said that the Padres had already beaten them a few times in the regular season. Hence, the San Diego Padres could be a major problem for them. With this, he not only appreciated the rivals but also indirectly undermined the Yankees’ spot in the World Series.

Mookie Betts, too, agreed as he remarked, “They kicked our a** all season.” But truly, the competition between San Diego and LA was fierce. So much so that many saw it as an early ‘final’ in the postseason. But between them, the men in blue came out victorious and finally had their matchup against the Yankees. The Dodgers got an early 3-0 lead and closed the series at Game 5 itself. However, there was one instance where even Roberts was scared.

The only time when Roberts felt nervous in the World Series

Game 5 of the World Series was a complete thriller! The way the LA Dodgers clinched their right World Series title felt almost like a dramatic movie. The Yankees had already got an early lead of five runs. It looked like the Dodgers were headed back to LA for Game 6, but what a comeback! They found their spark in the fifth inning and also some defensive errors by the Yankees helped them. By the time the blue crew reached the eight, the game was on their side, but the leadup sure did shake up Dave Roberts.

Roberts opened up about the pressure he felt on the podcast with Mookie Betts, claiming he was nervous about the possibility of Game 6. “Knowing we still had (Yoshinobu) Yamamoto in our back pocket, but the point being is that if we were to come back, the noise, the pressure, becomes real. Because then, you’re going to start potentially being part of history in the wrong way, a team that gave up a 3-0 lead.” So, for Roberts, the fear of going back or being on the wrong side of creating history was what he feared the most.

Well, thankfully for the Dodgers, everything went to plan and they could turn the series in their favor – fans couldn’t have asked for a better ending to the season! However, were you surprised by how the Yankees lost a great lead at Game 5, or how the LA team managed to cope? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.