Baseball-Dodgers fans celebrate long-awaited World Series parade
By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES, Nov 1 (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
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
