Was Disbelief the Downfall of the Dodgers in the Battle for LA?

ANAHEIM, Calif. – It's easy to second-guess baseball managers, heck, it's half the fun of being a fan, but for rookie skipper Dave Roberts, his miscues continue to compile.

Every rookie, coach or player, will go through a few growing pains in their inaugural season, but lately it seems that Roberts has been under a proverbial microscope, and his "rookie manager moments" have become magnified.

The biggest evidence of this comes on the heels of the Dodgers dropping three-of-four in the Freeway Series with their Los Angeles rivals, the Angels.

It was the first time that the boys in blue have lost the series since 2012, and the four-game set featured plenty of moments for fans to question Roberts' decision-making.

One of those moments was the decision to pinch-hit for Chase Utley with the bases loaded and no outs in the top of the seventh inning during Wednesday's game with the Dodgers trailing 8-1. Utley had two hits in that game, and had doubled in his previous at-bat against right-hander Nick Tropeano who was wearing down by that point.

"Being down seven runs, we really hadn't threatened at all against Tropeano," Roberts said. "In a game like that, I want to make sure I take care of certain players. For him to be in a game down seven runs, I didn't like that visual."

Did Roberts waive the symbolic white flag? Walking onto the field with his hands held high in the international sign of surrender in order to preserve his 37-year-old second baseman?

"We haven't scored eight runs in I can't remember when," Roberts added when asked if he was giving up. "So a guy [Utley] that's playing every day, 37 years old, it was one of those things where I didn't want him in a game that got away from us. So at that point in time I told him I'm going to give the at-bat to Kiké [Hernandez]."

Last Friday.

That's the answer to Roberts' question of when the last time the Dodgers scored eight runs. Friday the 13^th (of May) in an 8-4 victory over the Cardinals. In fact, the Dodgers have scored eight runs or more twice in the month of May, and four times since the season began on April 4^th.

In any event, Roberts went with the slumping Hernandez who promptly struck out and Justin Turner followed with an inning-ending double play, putting an end to any potential rally before it occurred.

Sure, the game appeared to be a blowout heading into that seventh inning, but one big swing by Utley in that situation could have made it a competitive game again. Also, it's doubtful that Utley's body would have broken down after one more at-bat, especially since two days later he would be out of the lineup with a lefty on the mound.

Many questioned Roberts decision after the game, and social media was aflame with fans arguing that the man they call "Doc" had made the wrong diagnosis in pulling Utley.

We'll never know what would have happened had Utley gotten that at-bat, he may have struck out as well, or he could have hit a grand slam home run, but that's besides the point.

The hypothetical situation is fun to play around with, but it begs an even different question: Is it better for a Major League manager to have undying faith and belief in his team, no matter what the challenges? Or, is it better for a manager to have the foresight to see the big picture and base his decisions on facts, stats, and probabilities?

As fans, we always hang to the notion of hope. We love an underdog story and will always believe in miracles despite what the odds tell us. Take the unlikely story of Leicester City who defied 5000-to-1 odds to win the English Premier League this season. Or, the 1980 U.S. Men's Olympic hockey team who were 1000-to-1 long shots to beat Russia and helped coin the phrase, "Do you believe in miracles?"

These are the reasons why we love sports.

So as a fan, of course we wanted to see Utley at-bat with the bases loaded. The Dodgers still had nine outs remaining in the game, and as the late Yogi Berra used to say, "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over," or maybe my generation prefers the phrase, "Goonies Never Say Die!"

Regardless, we're used to traditional baseball managers telling us, that they will "fight to the bitter end", that their team "can always come back," and that it ain't over "until the last out is recorded," but is that practical? Wouldn't it be better to be pragmatic and realistic while pointing the ship in the right direction?

In the case of Roberts, he may have known something we didn't. According to Baseball Reference, no team in the 2016 season has come back from a seven-run deficit to win a game. As of Friday night, only three teams in all of baseball had come back from a deficit of five runs.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are not one of them.

In fact, the Los Angeles Dodgers have NEVER come back from a deficit of seven or more runs to win a game in their history. In order to find a team that has, you have to go back to the 1950 season when the Brooklyn Dodgers led by Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, and Roy Campanella erased an eight-run deficit against Stan Musial and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Ironically, that game took place on May 18^th, exactly 66 years to the day that Roberts and the Dodgers waived the white flag in their 8-1 loss to the Angels. That year was also the first year that Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully first stepped into the broadcast booth alongside Red Barber and Connie Desmond.

Could the Dodgers have become the first team in 66 years to overcome a seven-run deficit to win the game? Possible, but not probable.

Weigh in on what you thought of Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts decision to pinch-hit for Chase Utley with the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh inning of a seven-run game, and what you think of his managerial job thus far in his first season as Dodgers skipper in the comments section below.