The Dodgers have made it official, hiring Dave Roberts to be the first minority manager in franchise history.
The team announced his hiring Monday and plans to introduce him on Dec. 1.
"We're extremely excited to bring Dave Roberts on board as the next manager of the Dodgers," said Dodger President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman. "We could not have been more impressed with him through this process. His energy is infectious and he has the rare ability to make a genuine connection with every person he comes across.
"He has developed strong leadership qualities and accumulated a breadth of baseball experience over his career as both a player and coach. He is a 'baseball man' and 'people person' in the truest sense of those words. We feel fully confident that he will effectively lead our team in pursuit of its ultimate goal -- bringing a world championship back to the city of Los Angeles."
The 43-year-old former major leaguer served as bench coach for San Diego the last two seasons. Before that, Roberts was a special assistant for the Padres' front office in 2010 and their first base coach from 2011-13. He served as manager for one game this season after Bud Black was fired.
Roberts' father is black and his mother is Japanese.
In a statement, Roberts calls his hiring "the opportunity of a lifetime."
Roberts was the starting center fielder for the Dodgers from 2002-04. He becomes the fourth Dodgers manager to also play for the franchise, joining Tom Lasorda, Bill Russell and Glenn Hoffman.
He succeeds Don Mattingly, who mutually parted ways with the team last month.
Source: nbclosangeles.com