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.
Advertisement 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. “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 .