By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Dodgers fans basked in the glow of their team’s World Series championship on Friday, packing into downtown Los Angeles hours before a victory parade was set to begin after being denied a similar celebration in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
A sea of blue-and-white clad fans were in high spirits at a park in front of Los Angeles City Hall, reveling in the team’s 4-1 victory over the New York Yankees to secure the franchise’s eighth title.
“There are no words for this,” said lifelong Dodgers fan Hugo Miranda, who 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.”
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.”
The potent Dodgers lineup includes Japanese hitter-pitcher Shohei Ohtani, World Series MVP Freddie Freeman and three-time champion Mookie Betts, but Dodgers 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 Five 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 Nov. 1 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.
“I want to come back.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
