After two dramatic nights in Toronto, the LA Dodgers are back at Dodger Stadium. As fans crowded the clubhouse store, selling out Shohei Ohtani jerseys, Tyler Glasnow & Co. pulled up for a workout late Sunday afternoon, easing into early evening. But while the city set up the atmosphere for Game 3, the Dodgers manager couldn’t say the same.

Dave Roberts and his staff wouldn’t arrive at the stadium until after the scheduled 5 pm workout had begun. When asked if he had any travel stories to tell during the press conference, the manager made a few slightly vague comments.

“I don’t want to get too far into it. I just arrived 30 minutes ago. So there were some delays. I don’t know if there was intent or not, but man, the international stuff was a bear. But we made it,” he said.

The Dodgers, reported to be a team of around 400, were flying in four parts from Toronto. The players took off in the first one right after the game on Saturday. But Roberts and the staff would not leave until Sunday morning. The process involves a stop at the US customs, having crossed the border. And that very fact was the tipping point for all the rage on social media.

Roberts’s choice to include the word ‘intent’ in his comments seemed to blame Canada for the delay. But given that LA was the final destination, it is the US customs that processes the team’s arrival, contributing to long hours.

This comes when the tensions are already high between the two teams. With the series tied 1-1 (11-4 in Blue Jays’ favor and 5-1 in the Dodgers’ favor), the Dodgers are favored to win it all at home in 6. But the Blue Jays have made it clear that they won’t be letting it slip easily, and Toronto fans aren’t buying into anything that may seem like an excuse from the defending champions.

After two consecutive game days, and all the travel leading up to exhaustion, some sense of frustration is welcomed by the fans. But the blame placed landed the manager on the wrong side.

Update: Following fan fury, Roberts clarified his motive behind using the word ‘intent’ to The Athletic: it was unintentional.

“I know the Prime Minister is not worried about calling airline security or the FAA to make sure that they delay us,” he admitted.  “I know that. Obviously. I think the Prime Minister has bigger fish to fry.” The Athletic also reported that Roberts agreed he should have simply omitted the word.

But the damage was done, and the annoyance was unavoidable.

The fans, especially from Canada, were not happy

Fans immediately questioned the logic of Roberts’ complaint, as one comment read, “Intent, please…. You go through customs once you arrive in Toronto. Not when you leave. 🙄” Major Canadian airports like Toronto’s have U.S. pre-clearance, which means the Dodgers went through U.S. Customs before they even boarded the plane.

Other fans pinpointed exactly where the “problem” was, saying, “Not sure what this means. Sounds like an American issue since he was going back into the US. Nothing to do with Canadian customs.” Some even mocked the manager for complaining about his “tough” life. “Poor Dave Roberts man. Had to travel from Toronto to LA for a World Series on a private charter making millions of dollars to manage a super team. Prayers below 👇🏻”

Roberts manages the most expensive team in baseball history with a $417 million roster and full of MVPs. And with that privileged position, complaining about a delay seems petty to fans. Quite a few echoed the sentiment: “Dave Roberts has the easiest job in the world, and he’s complaining about a flight delay because of a work staffing shortage in his own country.”

Reportedly, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has faced staffing shortages. So, the delay was likely a normal American administrative problem, and it had nothing to do with Canada. This is why many fans felt Roberts was just making excuses.

Another fan wrote, “Already trying to make excuses. This is good the BlueJays are in his head. 😏” It’s not tough to crack their point. The Dodgers were the heavy favorites, but they were walloped 11-4 in Game 1. It was their first loss since they defeated the Phillies in the playoffs. Their superstar Shohei Ohtani was booed by the whole stadium when the fans chanted, “We don’t need you!” following his infamous Blue Jays rejection to join LA in 2023. They even needed a historic game from Yamamoto just to tie the series. At that point, the Jays had successfully done something that nobody expected at the start of the season.