Scenes from a Dodgers World Series parade: ‘Best thing I’ve ever been a part of’

LOS ANGELES — At long last, a parade in Los Angeles. A city starved for one since 1988, kept from one in 2020, finally had its chance to celebrate. These Los Angeles Dodgers rode eight buses from City Hall to Dodger Stadium, soaking in a city that jumped at the opportunity to certify this era as the greatest in the franchise’s modern history.

Fans lined the streets and packed the ballpark. They hung from streetlights and flung beers toward the vehicles carrying the players who vanquished the New York Yankees to bring home a second title in five years. They stirred memories of Dodgers legends of old. They commemorated them in Hollywood fashion, as actor Edward James Olmos led thousands in singing “Happy Birthday” to the late Fernando Valenzuela, who passed away just days before this World Series and would have turned 64 years old on Friday. Ice Cube returned for an encore, this time with Dave Roberts joining him on stage.

It was a good day indeed. The World Series champions were back in Los Angeles. This time, they got to enjoy it, returning on a blue carpet as “Not Like Us” boomed in front of an estimated 42,458 people in the ballpark.

Being unable to celebrate four years ago, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said, left “an empty feeling.”

That was rectified on Friday.

LAPD estimated 225,000 fans gathered along the parade route during the Dodgers championship parade. (Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)

“It certainly made up for 2020,” Roberts said, estimating he’s gotten about four hours of sleep since the final out Wednesday night. “Obviously there’s a lot of players in 2020 that didn’t get to appreciate and experience what we experienced, but this is for them too.”

“This is the best thing I’ve ever been a part of,” Clayton Kershaw said.

After 17 years, the franchise icon got his parade. He is now a champion twice. Kershaw savored the event, raising the trophy as he jumped up and down before the sea of blue in front of him. It was up on the stage that the three-time Cy Young Award winner was brought to tears. The tears continued again after, as he spoke of what it meant.

“I waited a long time for this,” Kershaw said. “It really put all my expectations to bed. … We’ve been through it. We’ve been through some stuff. To be able to see them as happy as they were, being able to celebrate with us. It means the world to me.”

To win four years ago, Kershaw said, brought relief. This was joy. Elation. Vindication after years of postseason losses that Kershaw wore for this city and felt alongside the fan base.

“It’s a day that I’ll definitely never forget,” Kershaw said. “Baseball is just a game. Everybody says that. But I don’t know man. You look around and you see how much it means to so many different people, it might be baseball but it means a lot to a lot of different people. I’m no different.

“I know they’ve felt all the losses too, just like I did. The only way to get through it is just to get through it. And we did. Somehow I’m still here, and they’re still here to celebrate.”

Wow. Los Angeles, you’re incredible. #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/hF8gltIpnq

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) November 1, 2024

Celebrate, they did. On one bus, Walker Buehler donned his idol’s jersey as his wife, McKenzie, poured beer down a funnel and into his mouth. The man who recorded the final three outs of the Dodgers’ eighth World Series title had reached out to Orel Hershiser during the National League Championship Series, asking if the road gray uniform from the 1988 World Series was still in his closet. Buehler wore it, dirt stains and all, before Game 1 of the World Series and kept it all the way through to Friday, when he got down on one knee wearing it and imbibed.

“We’re world f—ing champions, mother f—er,” Buehler said as he took the stage, trophy in tow.

Freddie Freeman cradled his youngest son, Maximus, in one arm and his other two sons, Brandon and Charlie, clung to each leg. The World Series MVP was brought to tears just three years ago when he returned to Atlanta, a place he thought he’d never leave. Now, he was basking in a city that has embraced him, in an area where he grew up, his place in Dodgers lore cemented after his performance on a badly sprained right ankle and with broken rib cartilage he dealt with throughout October.

“I only had one leg, but I had a whole group of guys who had my back all year,” Freeman said.

Walker Buehler, wearing an Orel Hershiser jersey, drinks a beer with help from his wife, McKenzie. (Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)

Alex Vesia slung a championship title belt over his left shoulder. Jack Flaherty donned a shirt that read “Job Finished” as a nod to the Kobe Bryant quote on display in the home clubhouse all October. Bryant memorably said “Job’s not finished” after Game 2 of the 2009 NBA Finals, and the Dodgers embraced the motto by staying locked in until they finished off the Yankees in the five-game series.

Kiké Hernández praised Ice Cube and came for the neck of Fat Joe, who performed opposite the “West Coast Don” (as Ice Cube was introduced on Friday), at Yankee Stadium during the series. “We didn’t need to play, because after that performance we had already won,” Hernández said, calling the rapper “not fat anymore” in the process.

By the end of the day, Teoscar Hernández was brought to tears. “When you get that out of me, that’s the best,” he said. “When I show that emotion, that’s when I truly feel it.”

Together, the Dodgers watched in awe as a city craving a celebration embraced them.

“I didn’t even know this many people existed,” Tyler Glasnow said.

The Los Angeles Police Department estimated crowds of 225,000 lining the streets of the affair.

“People f—ing lining up, on the freaking buildings, it’s unbelievable,” Flaherty said. “I love this city. I never want to leave.”

Shohei Ohtani cradled his dog, Decoy, as he and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — the headliners of a billion-dollar offseason — celebrated a title in their first season in the uniform.

The Dodgers spent years fascinated by the possibility of something like this. A flourish this past winter, seeking “the biggest fish of them all” in Ohtani, was at the center of it.

“I almost screwed it up,” Roberts quipped, alluding to his decision to reveal the Dodgers’ meeting with the superstar in this same building just 11 months ago.

Ohtani drew a raucous roar as he thanked the crowd in English. It was Kershaw and Buehler and Freeman and Ohtani and Mookie Betts and others who came to define these Dodgers, and perhaps no one put their ethos any more succinctly than Kiké Hernández did in eliciting a hefty fine for his postgame interview on Fox after eliminating the Padres in the National League Division Series.

On Friday, Hernández playfully referenced that moment by leaning on the crowd for help as he reenacted the censored portion of his on-air remarks to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.

“Are we live?” Hernández asked as he took the microphone, before beckoning the crowd. “What makes this team different than any other Dodgers team?”

The crowd responded: “They don’t give a f—.”

“They said it,” Hernández said, “not me.

A Freddie Freeman cutout honoring his walk-off grand slam in Game 1 joins the parade. (Harry How / Getty Images)

Welcome to the Dodgers’ golden era, one punctuated by two titles in five years and the promise and hope of more. It was Kiké Hernández on Friday who claimed ownership of a decade that isn’t halfway complete, pronouncing the Dodgers’ dominance. It’s not hard to see why. Ohtani has nine years left on his contract. Yamamoto has 11. Freeman has three. Betts has nine.

Friday offered a taste of the celebration this city has been missing. Now, it craves more.

“We got two so far,” Betts said of the Dodgers’ titles since arriving here in 2020. He has another from his time in Boston. “We got like eight, nine years left? I got to get to at least five or six, right? We got to do this at least five or six times, right? I’m trying to fill this hand up, L.A.”

(Top photo of Kiké Hernandez: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)