Copyright AL.com
During Alabama football’s win over LSU on Saturday, it’s possible that the most famous sports figure in the stadium wasn’t on the staff or roster of either team. While Nick Saban, in attendance for the Crimson Tide win over the other SEC team he once coached, has a convincing argument, among active coaches, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts probably took the honor. Roberts was on the sideline for the game wearing Alabama apparel, due to his friendship with Saban’s replacement as the Tide’s head coach, Kalen DeBoer. DeBoer was asked how their relationship came to be during his Monday press conference. “A couple years ago, got a chance to go watch a Dodgers game with Alexis, my daughter,” DeBoer said. “She’s softball, so baseball, that piece right there, it was just fun to go there and watch a game. And got to spend some time with him in the clubhouse afterwards. And I was blown away at, first of all, how much time he gave me in the middle of his season. I know how hard that is as a coach myself. And then we’ve just stayed in touch. This summer, I went up and saw him play up in Milwaukee. And again, we just stay in touch.” Roberts and the Dodgers recently won their second consecutive World Series. Los Angeles beat the Toronto Blue Jays in a dramatic seven-game series. DeBoer praised his friend’s coaching style on Monday. “I can’t help but notice how great of a job he does of bringing these guys together that he manages,” DeBoer said. “They’re all such great players, but he finds a way to have a role for each of them, them having just such a low ego and enjoying the process of what they’re doing. And finding ways to win, the resiliency it took, obviously, the last two years in both World Series, it’s just amazing. “And I think there’s a lot of similarities in our styles, maybe. There’s probably differences, too. It’s a different sport. But I got a lot of admiration for how he manages and how he gives his time. The presence he has when he walks into a room, it just really blows me away.” Roberts played in the majors himself from 1999-2008. He won a World Series as a player with the 2004 Boston Red Sox. After his trip to Tuscaloosa, DeBoer said he hoped Alabama would learn something from Roberts. “Him coming here this last weekend, something that was kind of on the docket, going back quite some time, I think probably a month or two ago,” DeBoer said. “And so, I was really looking forward to it. I think they had a great time watching the game, but we also had a great time taking a few nuggets to learn from, to help us be better as coaches and be better as players.”
