Dodgers repeat World Series title with another stadium rally
The celebration had barely begun, when Shahi Ohtani first called out the theme of the day.
“I’m already thinking about the third time,” he said in Japanese, standing atop a double-decker bus in downtown Los Angeles as thousands of blue-clad, flag-waving, championship-celebrating Dodgers fans lined the streets around him for the team’s 2025 World Series parade.
Turns out, he wasn’t alone.
Two days removed from a dramatic Game 7 victory that clinched Dodger baseball’s first repeat championship in 25 years, the team walked the streets of the city and Monday at a sold-out rally at Dodger Stadium already thinking about what happens in 2026.
With three titles in the last six seasons, their modern-day dynasty may now be cemented.
But their goal of adding to the “golden era of Dodger baseball,” as senior executive Andrew Friedman has repeatedly called it, is far from over.
“I’ve got to tell you, ‘Are we going to be back next year,'” owner and manager Mark Walter told the 52,703 fans at the stadium.
“I have a crazy idea for you,” Friedman called out. “How about we do it again?”
When manager Dave Roberts took the mic, he tripled down on the goal: “What’s better than two? Three! Three-peat! Three-peat! Let’s go.”
When shortstop Mookie Betts, the only active player with four World Series, followed him, he quadrupled the expectation: “I got four. Time to stuff your hand all the way, kid. ‘Three-peat’ never looked so sweet. Somebody make that T-shirt.”
To achieve that history, for the legacy-sealing Dodgers, Monday was a reminder of the ultimate goal — the kind of scene that starts them off in another short winter, soon to fuel their motivation for another confetti-filled parade this time next year.
“For me, winning a championship, the real moment is the parade,” Friedman said. “The joy of doing that, when you go to the finals, every game you win is special. That night is special. But to be able to take a breather and experience the parade again, in my mind, that’s what always drives me to win.”
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“[To] Do it for the city, that’s what it’s all about,” added first baseman Freddie Freeman. “There’s nothing like winning a championship. And if it happens to be three in a row, that’s it. But that’s what motivates us to keep going.”
Last November, the Dodgers’ first parade in 36 years was a novelty.
Much of the group was part of the 2020 title team that was denied the same serenade after that disease-altered campaign. They waited four years to experience a city-wide celebration. The reception they received was emotional and unprecedented.
Now, as third baseman Max Muncie said with a devilish grin from atop a makeshift stage in the Dodger Stadium outfield, “It’s starting to get a little comfortable in here. Let’s keep going.”
“Losing,” star pitcher and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto added in English, a year after his memorable quotes from last October, “is not an option.”
It will not be easy to do.
This year, the Dodgers’ win total dropped to 93 in the regular season. They must play in the wild-card round for the first time since the playoffs expanded in 2022. And in the World Series they faced elimination in Games 6 and 7, winning both narrowly to complete their bid for a repeat.
“I’m borderline still in disbelief that we won Game 7,” fan favorite Kiki Hernandez said in a Bustop interview.
But, he quickly added, “We’re all winners, winners are winners.”
Thus, they also get festivals like Mondays.
As it was 367 days ago, the Dodgers lined the parade route from Temple Street to Grand Avenue to 7th Street to Figueroa in front of tens of thousands of fans. Both were riding in double-decker buses and in the maddened crowd below, cheers were flowing and drinks were flowing.
Once the team arrived at Dodger Stadium, it climbed to the top of the blue circular riser in the middle of the field — the last symbolic steps in their climb up the sports mountain.
Anthony Anderson introduced them to the crowd, while Ice Cube presented the trophy in a blue 1957 Chevy Bel Air.
Familiar scenes, they hope will become an annual tradition.
“Job done in 2024, job done in 2025,” Freeman said. “Jobs in 2026? Start now.”
The Dodgers took time to recognize their newfound place in baseball history, becoming just the sixth MLB franchise to win three titles in a six-year span and the first since the New York Yankees from 1998 to 2000 to win in consecutive years.
Where last year’s parade day felt like a premature coronation, this one served to highlight their legacy.
“Everybody asks about a family,” Hernandez said. “How about three in six years?
And, on Monday, all the main characters of this storybook achievement got their moment in the sun.
There was, as team broadcaster O’Reilly emcee Joe Davis described him, “Hall of Fame bound” Roberts, who now trails only Walter Alston in team history with three World Series rings.
“We talked about last year, we want to get it going again,” he said. “And I’ll tell you right now, this group of guys will never deny bringing this city another championship.”
Game 7 champion Miguel Rojas called to surprise Rookie Sasaki on his birthday in October by dancing to his “Bellalo Rocky” entrance song; A request forced Sasaki the sheep to pump its mouth to beat.
Yamamoto, who picked up championship wins in games 6 and 7, received some of the loudest cheers of the day.
“We did it together,” he said. “I love the Dodgers, I love Los Angeles.”
Muncie, Ohtani and Blake Snell also addressed the crowd.
“I’m trying to get used to it,” Sunil said.
“I’m ready to get another ring next year,” Ohtani reiterated.
One franchise face that won’t be back to follow it: Clayton Kershaw, who was riding into the retirement sun by getting one last day at Dodger Stadium, fought back tears as he thanked the crowd at the end of his 18-year career.
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“Last year, I said I was a Dodger for life. And today it’s true,” Kershaw said. “And today, I have to say that I’m a champion of life. And that never goes away.”
Kershaw, of course, is one of the few from the club’s dark days in the early 2010s, when money was tight and playoff appearances uncertain and parades were only things dreamed about — not expected.
As he passes, however, the team is completely transformed.
Now, the Dodgers have reached 13 straight postseasons. They set salary records and bolstered their roster with a wave of star signings. They have turned the championship chase into an annual expectation, proud but unsatisfied with what they have achieved so far.
“I think, by definition, it’s a family,” said Friedman, the architect running it with the help of Walter’s deep-pocketed Guggenheim property group. “But that to me, in a lot of ways, that kind of cap is if you say, ‘Well, this is what it is.’ For me, it’s still growing and growing. We would like to add this. We want to keep it going, and do everything we can to put it at a level that people after us will have a hard time with.
On Monday, they raised the bar even higher.
“That parade was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen, part of it,” Kershaw said. “It’s truly the most incredible day to be able to end your career.”
On Tuesday, the Dodgers’ long road to a championship begins.
“I know they’re going to get each other next year,” Kershaw told the crowd. “And I’ll look like all of you.”
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