On Dave Roberts' birthday, his best 'Doc-isms'

This story was excerpted from Juan Toribio’s Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

LOS ANGELES -- To no one’s surprise, a Major League manager has a lot of daily responsibilities. From the moment they get to the ballpark to when they leave, they’re in charge of a lot that happens at the stadium.

Among the many jobs is talking to the media before and after every game. Those scrums can go a million different ways. Some are serious. Others are basically just trying to get injury information and quotes for feature stories. At times, it just turns into a bunch of jokes.

As you can probably imagine, given how frequently a manager talks to the media on a daily basis, certain words and phrases start to develop as go-tos. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who is one of the best in the Majors at handling a scrum, is no exception.

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With Roberts turning 52 on Friday, let’s take a look at a few Doc-isms that have stood out and usually get a reaction from some of the reporters who cover the Dodgers on a daily basis.

The triple threat

Let’s just go ahead and start with my personal favorites, and one that deserves its own nickname: The fingers, the head, the compete.

When Roberts is asked about a catcher, he usually throws in that he likes “the fingers” the player threw up throughout the game. The PitchCom era is here, but “the fingers” have the honor of being a Doc-ism.

Other position players shouldn’t worry. Roberts has some Doc-isms for the rest of them as well. When asked about a player -- usually a position player -- Roberts often starts off his description with, “I like the head, the compete.” Compete has become a versatile word for Roberts, who also loves throwing in “compete mode” whenever he gets a chance.

If Roberts says he likes the fingers, the head and the compete, you’ve officially made it. And he’ll definitely like the compete mode.

His favorite baseball terms

Every manager -- and front office member, for that matter -- has some baseball phrases they like to repeat.

For Roberts, “move the ball forward” has turned into his biggest one. Just this year alone (based on some very informal research), Roberts has said those exact words in a quote at least 17 times before or after a game. He, of course, is referring to putting the ball in play and not striking out.

“Runway” is also a very popular Doc-ism. When a player is going to get an extended look, you know because Roberts says he’ll get an extended runway. For hitters, there’s also “nitro zone,” which refers to a hitter’s hot zone. This one is a relatively new one for Roberts, one he often uses when talking about Shohei Ohtani. “Multiple clubs in his bag” is another Doc-ism Roberts turns to a lot. Spoken like a true golfer.

The descriptions

“There’s a little bit of smoke:” When Roberts is describing a minor injury, especially with a pitcher, this is how he describes it nine times out of 10. Smoke isn’t good.

“There’s a fastball in there, there’s a curveball in there:” When a reporter asks what a new pitcher brings to the table, Roberts usually just breaks down his pitch mix before getting deeper into it.

“Physical:” Another new one this season. This is what Roberts uses to describe some of the bigger guys. Bobby Miller and Tyler Glasnow fall into the physical role.

Those are just a few Doc-isms that have been picked up along the way. If you’re at the ballpark this weekend, make sure to wish Roberts a happy birthday. And share with him your favorite Doc-isms.