Baseball is only a sport. Except Friday afternoon at Chavez Ravine, 42,458 followers did not flock to Dodger Stadium to observe one.
They arrived with their youngsters, their buddies, their dad and mom and grandparents, a lot of whom as soon as watched Fernando Valenzuela electrify a metropolis and ignite a motion, for a celebration 4 and 36 years within the making.
When the Dodgers received all of it in 2020, the one followers their stadium welcomed got here within the type of cardboard cutouts. The actual ones watched from their houses, confined by the restrictions of a pandemic that compelled the postseason to be performed in a Texan bubble and denied the winners the parade they’d at all times imagined.
For all of the victories the Dodgers have had in latest many years, together with 11 consecutive journeys to the postseason earlier than this 12 months, they hadn’t celebrated a full-season World Series championship since 1988.
On Friday afternoon, on what would have been Valenzuela’s sixty fourth birthday, a metropolis erupted and a long-awaited parade started.
“It undoubtedly made up for 2020,” supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned. “Obviously there are plenty of gamers in 2020 who did not get to understand and expertise what we skilled, however that goes for them too.”
The Dodgers returned house from New York, the place they’d silenced the critics and naysayers attempting to reclaim the one championship they’d received within the final 30 years, a 60-game dash, in some way nonetheless did not rely. They confirmed they may win with an unprecedented dash. This 12 months they’ve proven that they’ll emerge even from a rigorous marathon.
Baseball is only a sport, however the tears that welled up within the eyes of the Dodgers gamers after they lastly walked within the parade steered extra.
The lengthy preparation for the event, Clayton Kershaw defined, might have made it “even sweeter”.
“I’ve waited a very long time for this,” Kershaw mentioned. “I’m so grateful to each single fan that has come out, so grateful for the way nicely they’ve handled me and my household all these years. I imply, we have been by means of it. We’ve been by means of some issues. To be capable of see them as pleased as they had been, to have the ability to celebrating with us, it actually means quite a bit to me.”
Los Angelenos flooded the streets to have a good time the event, together with a whole bunch of hundreds of individuals alongside the Dodgers’ parade route, which started at City Hall, took the workforce by means of downtown Los Angeles and ultimately ended concluded on the website the place they received 52 common season video games this 12 months. then swept the NLDS and NLCS.
Roberts began October in nice place after a pair of early playoff exits. He started November on stage at a ceremony at Dodger Stadium, the place he danced alongside Ice Cube, having expertly orchestrated his workforce to a championship.
“Today,” Roberts mentioned, “was a good looking day.”
The means the Dodgers expressed their jubilation diversified, as one after the other a few of the most outstanding figures took the microphone.
Some, together with Shohei Ohtani, spoke of their second language. The prized free agent signing, after six years with no successful season to start his profession in Anaheim, addressed the group in English to specific his appreciation after successful a World Series in his first 12 months with the Dodgers.
“This is so particular,” she mentioned. “I’m so honored to be right here and be a part of this workforce. Congratulations, Los Angeles. Thanks guys.”
Many had been temporary: “We’re fucking world champions, son of a bitch,” Walker Buehler mentioned, two days after throwing out the ultimate pitch at Yankee Stadium.
Levity was a well-liked type of expression, even from one other participant who promoted his October legend.
“Ice Cube got here out in Game 2 and along with his efficiency we did not even must play, we had already received it,” Kiké Hernández mentioned. “Then we go to New York, and this man, he was fats, he isn’t anymore, his identify is Joe. He got here out and sang, and guess what, we did not even need to play as a result of after that efficiency, we already had received.”
Mookie Betts, in the meantime, pointed to his hand.
The addition of Betts kicked off the Dodgers’ closing championship season, however he had struggled the previous two Octobers earlier than breaking out once more this postseason, slashing .290/.387/.565 with 4 homers and turning into the one lively place participant within the majors. with three World Series rings.
“I’m attempting to fill this hand, L.A.,” mentioned Betts, who signed a 12-year contract extension throughout the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series run.
Baseball is only a sport, however for a lot of Dodgers veterans, it additionally introduced a cathartic launch.
There was Freddie Freeman, who had battled not solely ankle, finger and rib accidents but in addition private difficulties throughout the second half of the season. His 3-year-old son Max persevered regardless of a sudden and horrifying autoimmune illness that at one level left him quickly unable to stroll. When Freeman returned from the household’s emergency listing in early August after Max started to enhance, the Dodger Stadium crowd gave him a standing ovation that shocked him because the applause rained down once more Friday.
“You guys made an awesome impression for me and my household,” Freeman mentioned. “It was one of many best experiences I’ve ever had on the sphere. I used to be so moved. I did the whole lot I might to get on the sphere for you. And I’m pleased I did.”
There was Teoscar Hernández, who joined the Dodgers on a one-year deal after his commerce did not materialize as he anticipated final winter. He determined to go to Los Angeles for an opportunity to win, then supplied a significant shake-up to the Dodger lineup in a bounce-back 12 months. Hernández, who has rapidly develop into a fan favourite because the applause Friday indicated, gasped as he grabbed the microphone and thanked the viewers.
The impending free agent additionally expressed hope to return subsequent 12 months as a Dodger, calling it “the precedence.”
“I knew it was going to be good,” Teoscar Hernández mentioned. “I knew plenty of issues had been going to occur in a great way, however it is a lot greater than I anticipated.”
And then there was Kershaw, the embodiment of the franchise’s colossal highs and earth-shattering lows over the previous 20 years.
“I’ve nothing to do with this championship, nevertheless it appears like the best feeling on this planet,” Kershaw mentioned earlier than a cheering crowd. “Dodger for all times.”
The future Hall of Famer was unable to contribute all through the 2024 season after attempting and failing to alleviate a number of accidents. He will want two surgical procedures on Wednesday, one to repair issues along with his massive toe and left foot which have saved him out for a 12 months and one other to repair the meniscus in his left knee.
That’s partly why it was so significant to him that Roberts and Kershaw’s teammates nonetheless invited him on stage to say just a few phrases in entrance of a fan base that lived and died with each pitch, with each exhausting defeat and each euphoric victory, the identical as he has finished for 17 years.
Next 12 months, Kershaw plans to complete 18th in a Dodger jersey, no matter whether or not he picks up his participant choice.
The 2020 season championship introduced him aid. This solely introduced tears of happiness.
“Baseball is only a sport, everybody says that,” Kershaw mentioned. “But I do not know, man. You go searching and see how a lot it means to so many alternative individuals. I feel it could be baseball, nevertheless it means quite a bit to plenty of totally different individuals, and I’m no totally different.”
Dodgers vs. Yankees: 2024 World Series MINI-MOVIE | MLB on FOX 🎥
Rowan Kavner is an MLB author for FOX Sports. He has beforehand lined the LA Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU graduate, Rowan was born in California, raised in Texas, then returned to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
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