Running for the Next Base, Not for Office

Dave Roberts, three years after his acquisition by the Dodgers, still takes the field shadowed by Maury Wills.

Beyond tutor and pupil, they are friends, family almost, Wills’ impact acknowledged by Roberts in his approach as the leadoff man, his technique as a bunter and his style as a base stealer.

As Roberts, sound again after hamstring and neck problems limited him to 107 games last year, attempts to trigger an evolving new offense, Wills salutes Roberts’ continued growth in maturity, confidence and mentality.

If Wills, the former shortstop who restored the stolen base as an offensive weapon and deserves a niche in the Hall of Fame, had a lingering wish in regard to Roberts, it would be that his disciple wasn’t quite so nice.

“He’s so friendly,” Wills said, smiling at the irony of anyone being too friendly. “I don’t like that about him and I always talk to him about it.”

Wills, of course, played when the game wasn’t quite so nice, so mannerly, but it’s hard to imagine Roberts being anything but what he is, no matter what the era dictated.

There is no one more personable, conversational, outgoing -- and the way Roberts is in the clubhouse and at the batting cage, with teammates and opponents, is the way he is in the mall and at the market.

After all, wasn’t it his wife, Tricia, who labeled him “Governor,” as if he were campaigning for office with all those hands he’s shaking and hellos he’s exchanging?

Now, of course, with Wills being part of the extended family, he too likes to needle Roberts by calling him Governor, although he’s convinced Roberts could benefit by getting off the campaign trail.

“I want to say, ‘Get away from those guys,’ even around the cage with his own teammates,” Wills said. “I want to see him focusing and driven, but I know how he is and I know it’s hard to get today anyway.

“It’s just not the nature of the younger generation. No knock on him. No knock on the younger generation. We’re all products of our time. I don’t know if I’ll ever get that from him, but I’m going to keep trying.

“I think he’s stifling some of his talent by being such a nice guy. I think he could be 15-20% better than he already is.”

Call it tough love. The type Pete Reiser used to administer to the young Wills, once swiping a pipe right out of the third-year shortstop’s mouth and tossing it into a clubhouse trash can because it created the perception of contentment.

Perception is important. People know Roberts has focus and drive, but from Wills’ perspective he can leave no doubt about it. A leadoff hitter of the Wills and Roberts type, Wills says, has to go at it with an edge, a measure of aloofness even.

“Rickey Henderson had the perfect mentality,” Wills said. “He didn’t care about anybody, on the field or on the bench.

“I got cheated out of All-Star games at a time when the players voted because they were so mad at me and the way I stole bases and played, but I wasn’t worried about being governor.”

It’s blunt stuff that Roberts accepts in stride.

He has heard it directly from Wills, and their relationship is too strong to be damaged.

“Maury definitely gives me grief about being [too friendly] and it’s a point well taken,” Roberts said. “I understand where he’s coming from, but it’s also a different age from when he played.

“Guys were often with the same team for their entire career, and there wasn’t as much fraternizing. Free agency changed things. The guys from opposing teams I talk to are most often guys I played with at different levels. It doesn’t affect my professionalism or the way I go about playing. Once the first pitch is thrown, I’m focused on what I have to do. I don’t care if my best friend is on the mound. I know what’s required of me.”

Nice or not, Roberts knows he plays a pivotal role at the top of the lineup, and it will take more than April to erase the memory of his “most frustrating and disappointing” season. Roberts stole 40 bases last year despite the limited service but batted .250 with a .331 on-base percentage.

He also knows there are no guarantees with the new management, and he is hoping only for “a chance to redeem myself.” At this point, operating out of left field, he is batting .278 with a .407 on-base percentage and a major league-leading 15 stolen bases in 15 attempts. His goal is to maintain an OBP in the .400 range, believing it could equate to 80 stolen bases and a successful overall offense.

Only Juan Pierre and Alex Sanchez, among major leaguers, stole more bases than Roberts’ 85 during the last two years, and his 14-for-14 start surpasses the goal of mentor Wills.

“There’s no reason Dave shouldn’t have that high percentage,” Wills said. “I preach eight of [every] 10 to second base, which puts you in a class with Ty Cobb, and 19 of [every] 20 to third base.

“The more Dave steals, the better hitter he’ll become because he’ll see more fat pitches from pitchers reluctant to put him on base.”

Stealing pays in several ways. Roberts has a Swipes for Schools program through which, for every stolen base, he and the Dodgers Dream Foundation donate $500 toward the purchase of equipment for local high schools lacking resources.

Then again, it’s not the Governor’s generosity that his mentor is questioning.