Many of them spent four years dreaming of it. Others had waited their whole baseball lives.
Two days after winning the World Series, and four years removed from a 2020 title that never was properly christened, the Dodgers celebrated with all of Los Angeles on Friday, parading through the streets of downtown on open-top double-decker buses before holding a championship rally in front of a packed Dodger Stadium.
Close to a quarter-million people were estimated to be lining the streets along the parade route, packed dozens of rows deep from City Hall to the Walt Disney Concert Hall to the procession’s endpoint at Fifth and Flower.
Then, the Dodgers bused back to the ballpark and entered Chavez Ravine to a hero’s welcome from center field, being serenaded by another 42,000 fans less than 48 hours after the team’s Game 5 World Series win over the New York Yankees.
Read more: Dodgers World Series parade: Thousands celebrate in the streets and at Dodger Stadium
“It’s one thing to celebrate with your coaches, the organization, the players,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But I’m telling you, the game is about the players and the fans. And in 2020 we just didn’t have that opportunity …The city needed this parade.”
Indeed, Friday had been a long time coming for the Dodgers, who last celebrated with a parade in 1988 after being unable to hold one following their pandemic-season title in 2020.
Twelve players from that year’s team had a hand in this championship, including postseason heroes Mookie Betts, Walker Buehler and franchise icon Clayton Kershaw.
“This was the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of,” a smiling, hoarse Kershaw said afterward, having joked onstage he “didn’t have anything to do with this championship” after missing most of the season and all of the playoffs because of injuries.
“I’m just so thankful to every single fan that came out,” Kershaw added. “So thankful how well they’ve treated me and my family for all these years. I mean, we’ve been through it, you know, we’ve been through some stuff, so to be able to see them as happy as they were, being able to celebrate with us, it means the world to me.”
Roberts and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who…