Congratulations to Dave Roberts, whose outstanding leadership with the injury-riddled Los Angeles Dodgers earned him the 2016 National League Manager of the Year award.
The Dodgers’ total of days of players on disabled list set a Major League record, yet Roberts guided his team to a 91-71 record and the NL West crown.
“I’m completely humbled. I’m speechless, I really am,” he told reporters after learning of his honor.
Roberts is also a rarity – a black manager to win the prestigious award.
Since the awards inception in 1983, the black winners are Frank Robinson, Baltimore Orioles, 1989; Dusty Baker, San Francisco Giants, 1993; Don Baylor, Colorado Rockies, 1995; Baker, Giants, 1997; Baker, Giants 2000; Jerry Manuel, Chicago White Sox, 2000.
Not a star during his career, Roberts played 10 seasons in the Majors and helped the Boston Red Sox sweep St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series.
“I think players know my story as a former player who had a lot of different roles, spending a lot of time in the minors, being a starter, being a player with a certain role. I think the players can relate to that. I think I can relate to all the players except for maybe being an All-Star,” he said.
“I think the players saw the authenticity from me from day one in spring training until we were eliminated. I try to pride myself on being the same guy every day.”
MLS proposal seeks taxpayer subsidy
While it is the season of the turkey, a peacock and woodcock are back pecking at the city’s pocketbook.
The SC STL ownership group wants to lure a Major League Soccer expansion franchise by building a $200 million stadium downtown.
Paul Edgerley, a partner at VantEdge Partners investments, is lead owner and chairman. Dave Peacock, former president of Anheuser-Busch and point man for the pipe-dream $1 billion riverfront stadium for the now-departed Rams, is a partner in the group.
The open-air stadium would seat 20,000 seats with the ability to expand to 28,500. It would sit next to St. Louis Union Station on land owned by the Missouri Department of Transportation. The city has an option to purchase the land.
Of course, there is a catch. SC STL wants city taxpayers to part with $80 million. The proposed owners would like to have a financing proposal on the April ballot in the city.
Jim Woodcock, the group’s spokesperson and another name connected with the Rams stadium, said the soccer facility would not be built unless MLS owners approve expansion in St. Louis.
With a St. Louis mayoral primary coming the first week of March, some candidates are already sounding quite cautious. The proposal was crafted secretly, and city officials have no specific details – nor do voters.
Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed told the Post-Dispatch “whatever is presented to us has to have a financial structure that protects the taxpayers and enhances the city as a whole.”
Alderman Lyda Krewson said, “I think we need to be careful with public subsidies.”
Treasurer Tishaura Jones did not back city tax dollars going to the failed Rams stadium project, so my guess is that she will feel the same about the soccer stadium.
Comptroller Darlene Green, who joins lame-duck Mayor Francis G. Slay and Reed on the city’s Board of Estimate and Apportionment, also stood against public financing of a football stadium.
Alderman Antonio French told KSDK he thought voters in his ward would reject the proposal because they want the city “to start focusing on the needs of the many and not the wants of a few.”
The MLS ask is one of three now on the table for city taxpayers involving sports franchises.
In June, the St. Louis Blues appealed to the city for $138 million in taxpayer help on improvements to the Scottrade Center. The team’s bottom line has no room for the needed improvements, thus leading to the request for tax relief.
The St. Louis Cardinals want about one-third of the cost of a $220 million addition to Ballpark Village covered through public financing spread over 20 years.
Before city leaders and/or voters side with any of these projects, a deal must be struck that creates immediate financing for body cameras for police, the hiring of more police officers and other worthwhile public safety and neighborhood improvement projects.
I suggest that the MLS group and Cardinals owners come up with $10 million in private money for these projects before there is any movement on public financing. The cash-strapped Blues get a pass.
It is admirable that Peacock and the MLS group is not shying away from a public vote – unlike the same Peacock and the NFL stadium group.
Pioneer Pride
I must give a shout out to my Kirkwood Pioneers after winning the Class 6A state football championship with a 31-14 thumping of Blue Springs in Columbia, Mo.
“When the buzzer rang at the end we had nothing else to prove,” senior Tyreese Norris said.
“We were just doing what we do, and we won. There are no words to describe how I felt.”
After losing to Chaminade in the season opener, Kirkwood reeled off 12 wins, including a 24-17 state semifinal win at Rockhurst.
In a scheduling oddity, the Turkey Day game against Webster Groves falls after completion of Kirkwood’s state title run. The Pioneers have a chance to win a 13th consecutive game and retain the coveted Frisco Bell.
Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook and appears on ABC’s The Allman Report and several sports radio shows. His Twitter handle is #aareid1
