{"id":800458,"date":"2026-07-14T03:09:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T03:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/800458\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T03:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T03:09:20","slug":"how-a-handwritten-note-to-dave-roberts-helped-shape-his-all-star-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/800458\/","title":{"rendered":"How a handwritten note to Dave Roberts helped shape his All-Star staff"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage<\/a> of the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PHILADELPHIA \u2014 As his team took batting practice at Busch Stadium on a Friday in early May, Dave Roberts strode across the field toward home plate, extended his hand to Oli Marmol and dapped him up like the two were old friends. Immediately, Roberts dove into an animated conversation. Seconds later, Marmol\u2019s laughter rang out over the field.<\/p>\n

This has become a custom of sorts for the two major-league managers in vastly different stages of their careers. Roberts, the long-time manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has led one of the best teams ever assembled to three World Series titles in five years and, in June, became the fastest manager in MLB history to record 1,000 wins. Marmol is in his fifth year of guiding the St. Louis Cardinals, though his tenure has been marred by a major front-office transition and one of the least competitive windows in franchise history.<\/p>\n

It is not uncommon for managers to develop friendly relationships, but Roberts and Marmol\u2019s bond is different. It is one rooted in empathy and respect, sparked by an unexpected act of kindness at a time when both skippers were questioning their futures.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a manager, it\u2019s a lonely life,\u201d Roberts said in a conversation with The Athletic last week. \u201cYou\u2019re sort of on an island, and the majority of the managers, we really aren\u2019t that close. But there are certain guys I feel like I want to develop a relationship with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c(With Oli) it was reciprocated.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week, the two will coach the All-Star Game in Philadelphia together. As a reward for winning the National League pennant, Roberts and his staff are back to lead the National League in the Midsummer Classic. Roberts was given two honorary coach selections. He first tabbed Don Mattingly, Roberts\u2019 predecessor in Los Angeles and the current interim coach of the Phillies. The second, Roberts said, deserved to be Marmol.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s honored the game so well,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI wanted him to experience the All-Star Game.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Roberts told Marmol on that Friday afternoon in St. Louis. It was an offer that Marmol said caught him \u201ccompletely off guard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have it on my radar even a little bit,\u201d Marmol said by phone last week. \u201cI was shocked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts assured Marmol that he didn\u2019t need an answer right away. The Cardinals manager, who celebrated his 40th birthday earlier in the month, had planned to spend his rare three days off from baseball by taking his wife, Amber, and two young daughters, Riley and Kiley, on a vacation. Roberts, who has two grown children of his own, could relate. There was no pressure, he said. Family comes first.<\/p>\n

But when Marmol approached Amber that night, she was adamant that he go. \u201cThere\u2019s no way you can say no,\u201d she said. \u201cSo you better say yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which teams fared well during MLB Draft Day 1?<\/p>\n

Keith Law<\/p>\n

So Marmol will represent the fourth All-Star selection for a St. Louis team that has been one of the most pleasant surprises in the NL. The Cardinals, who were supposed to be in their first rebuild in over three decades under first-year president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, finished the first half 50-45, one game out in the wild-card race. All three of their players in Philadelphia this week \u2014 Jordan Walker, Riley O\u2019Brien and Iv\u00e1n Herrera \u2014 are first-time All-Stars.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s meaningful, especially after the last couple of years of what went on here in St. Louis,\u201d Marmol said. \u201cIt couldn\u2019t have felt any better to get that vote of confidence, that acknowledgment from (Roberts).\u201d<\/p>\n

Ironically, if it weren\u2019t for Marmol reaching out to Roberts a few years ago offering support of his own, the two likely wouldn\u2019t have a relationship.<\/p>\n

In 2022, the Cardinals won the National League Central as Paul Goldschmidt topped MVP voting, Nolan Arenado finished third and Albert Pujols enjoyed a magical comeback season. A year later, St. Louis crashed to earth with its worst record in 30 years (71-91). It was an embarrassment, and second-year manager Marmol took the brunt of the criticism.<\/p>\n

That stood out to Roberts as he watched that season play out. His first impression of Marmol, he admits, wasn\u2019t exactly favorable.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be quite honest, I thought he was pretty standoffish,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBut that\u2019s kind of his personality. He was pouring into his team. And as I followed managers from afar, I really became impressed by the way he handled all the speculation about his job.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was something about how Marmol weathered what seemed like universal disapproval. Critiques dated to his hiring, when the Cardinals made an abrupt shift at the end of the 2021 season and fired Mike Shildt with no other explanation than \u201cphilosophical differences.\u201d Marmol was named manager shortly after the dismissal. He was drafted by the Cardinals in 2007, spent over a decade working in their player development system and was previously the team\u2019s bench coach.<\/p>\n

In a sense, Marmol was somewhat ahead of his time. Young managers with little to no previous big-league experience have become a trend as of late. But when Marmol got the Cardinals job at 35, he was the youngest skipper in baseball \u2014 which drew some stark disapproval from a few other established managers around the league.<\/p>\n

When the Cardinals finished last in the division in 2023 \u2014 the first time they had done so since moving to the NL Central in 1994 \u2014 cries for his firing grew into roars. A passionate fan base believed that one of the franchise\u2019s beloved icons, such as Pujols, Yadier Molina or Skip Schumaker, would be much better at leading the team. It didn\u2019t help that all three former players had expressed interest in managing, and that Schumaker was fresh off a National League Manager of the Year award with the Miami Marlins.<\/p>\n

But Marmol faced the fire head-on, and continued taking heat for the next two years as the Cardinals began an unorthodox transition season from longtime president of baseball operations John Mozeliak to Bloom. The Cardinals missed the postseason in 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe handled that all with grace, and for me, that showed a lot of character,\u201d Roberts recalled. \u201cThat\u2019s what draws me to people. I felt like he was a guy who needed support.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what compelled Roberts to reach out to Marmol when the Dodgers came to St. Louis in 2024. The two met behind the cage during batting practice, and Roberts shared that he found Marmol\u2019s struggles much more relatable than perception would believe. Because after winning the shortened-season World Series in 2020, the Dodgers lost in the championship series in 2021 and did not make it out of the division round in 2022 and 2023. Roberts was well aware of the growing narrative: He was not capable of guiding the Dodgers\u2019 top-tier talent to another championship.<\/p>\n

Roberts knew to drown out the noise, but that\u2019s easier said than done in an age when seemingly every move is criticized by your local armchair GM. While the Dodgers and Cardinals are vastly different organizations at the moment, they are similar in their rich history and high expectations. Roberts wanted Marmol to know he could relate.<\/p>\n

Moved, Marmol made a bold decision. He left a handwritten note on Roberts\u2019 desk, offering his thanks and some unsolicited advice. He did not disclose the full details of the note in this interview, but his description captured the gist of the message.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt came from a position of: You know nothing about me, I\u2019m just now starting and you\u2019ve been doing this a long time,\u201d Marmol explained. \u201cBut the tone of the letter was basically plow through the s\u2014. Don\u2019t give in to any of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dodgers won the World Series that year, and the year after. When the Cardinals came to Los Angeles in 2025, Roberts left a note of his own, plus a bottle of wine for Marmol in the visiting clubhouse.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers wrapped up the first half with MLB\u2019s best record. They had seven All-Star selections \u2014 Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Andy Pages, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Justin Wrobleski and Roberts \u2014 though Ohtani (left knee irritation) and Yamamoto (short rest) won\u2019t play. Los Angeles remains the favorite to win the World Series (again). No National League team has ever won it three years in a row.<\/p>\n

The Cardinals are unsure of their direction. Bloom will not veer from his long-term plans, but if his team remains competitive up to the Aug. 3 trade deadline, he could make incremental improvements that won\u2019t interfere with the big picture. That could mean competitive baseball returning to St. Louis much sooner than first believed.<\/p>\n

In Roberts\u2019 view, a good portion of that credit should go to the coaching staff.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Oli) and his staff have freed those young players to just be themselves,\u201d he said. \u201cThere weren\u2019t a lot of people that were expecting much from that ballclub. But he\u2019s got guys to believe this is their time. Again, I think it just starts with him, because he does a very good job protecting players and the staff from the noise that\u2019s outside the clubhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts knows the weight of his words. Outside of the Cincinnati Reds\u2019 Terry Francona and the Tampa Bay Rays\u2019 Kevin Cash, no active manager has managed longer in the majors. If his first 11 years of leading the Dodgers are any indication, he\u2019ll be a Hall of Famer one day.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this season can serve as a bit of vindication for Marmol, who senses a shift in how his fan base perceives him. It helps that his new front office extended him to start the season. There\u2019s also the Cardinals\u2019 reinvigorated style of play and increased fan and community engagement \u2014 including Marmol\u2019s participation<\/a> in the viral \u201cTarps Off\u201d movement in June.<\/p>\n

Now, Marmol is an All-Star, alongside Roberts, who isn\u2019t just a fellow manager, but now a friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo part of him had to do this,\u201d Marmol said. \u201cI am impressed with his ability to be consistently genuine. That is one thing that definitely stands out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby.\u00a0 PHILADELPHIA \u2014 As his team took…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":800459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,487,462,82,3982],"class_list":["post-800458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-mlb","tag-sports","tag-st-louis-cardinals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=800458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/800459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=800458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=800458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=800458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}