The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated their World Series win on Friday at a rousing victory parade in downtown Los Angeles, basking in festivities they were denied when the team won the 2020 baseball championship during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hoards of fans clad in Dodger blue chanted “Freddie, Freddie” as series Most Valuable Player Freddie Freeman rode atop one of several double decker buses rolling past City Hall.
“It’s incredible,” Freeman said. “LA really showed up today. I think this made up for 2020.“
Japanese slugger Shohei Ohtani carried his brown-and-white dog, Decoy, who sported an Ohtani jersey. Decoy was a regular at Dodger Stadium during the season and became a fan favorite.
Players and fans reveled in the team’s four-games-to-one win over the New York Yankees to secure the franchise’s eighth title.
“There are no words for this,” said lifelong Dodgers fan Hugo Mirandaho attended the team’s last championship parade in 1988.
“As you can see we have so many fans up in here today. We’ve been waiting for this since 1988. In 2020 we had a championship, a lot of people didn’t call it a championship, but I think it was.“
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The Dodgers won the title four years ago after a truncated, 60-game season and no parade was held in an effort to stem the spread of the virus.
“I’m so happy we won. It’s great for the whole city,” said Dodgers fan Bobby Trahan.
“Everyone comes together and it’s nothing but a lot of love.”
In addition to Dodgers stars Ohtani, Freeman and three-time champion Mookie Betts, fan Jose Lara said someone else deserved some credit for the team’s victory.
“There’s one person I’d like to thank. None of this would have been possible without Aaron Judge,” he said of the Yankees slugger.
Judge struggled at the plate early in the series and made a critical error in Game 5 that opened the door for an epic Dodgers comeback to secure the title.
“Thank you Aaron,” Lara said with a smile.
The crowd at time spontaneously broke out into a rendition of “Happy Birthday” for Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela, the beloved Mexican pitcher who was born on 1 November and passed away last month.
“A lot of people say Fernando helped us,” said Dodger fan Bobby Trahan.
“If it weren’t for Fernando we wouldn’t have won that last game, so thank you Mr El Toro.“
Trahan said the team’s victory only made him hungry for more.
“It feels really good and we want one more next year. I think we can do it again,” he said.