Stories by Linda Yun, Benjamin Regan, Clementine Evans, Gavin Bartolome, & Isabella Jonassen
Editor-in-Cheif, Print Managing Editor, Online Managing Editor, Staff Writers
Photos by Mac Shropshire
Staff Photographer
Illustrations by Isole Kim, Nathan Friezer, & Diana Lopez
Co-Design Editor, Staff Illustrators
Dodgers win the 2024 World Series
On Wednesday, Oct. 30, the Los Angeles Dodgers won their eighth World Series in franchise history, beating the New York Yankees in five games.
The Dodgers’ road to the World Series was challenging. In the regular season, the team was plagued by injuries, especially to the pitching staff. Despite this, the Dodgers won a major league-best 98 games and earned a 12th consecutive trip to the postseason.
After back-to-back National League Division Series (NLDS) disappointments, it looked like the Dodgers were primed for another first round exit. In 2022, the Dodgers were ousted by the Padres in four games, and last year, the Diamondbacks stunned the Dodgers with a sweep. After dominant regular seasons, Los Angeles was not the same team in the playoffs.
This year, the team faced a tough test to start the postseason, playing their division rival, the San Diego Padres, in a best-of-five series. The Dodgers got blown 10-2 by the Padres in Game 2 and then dropped Game 3 by a score of 6-5. With their backs against the wall and their playoff demons swirling, the Dodgers responded.
Dodgers pitchers shut out the Padres for the final 24 innings of the series, winning Game 4 in San Diego and then returning home to win the pivotal Game 5. The Dodgers advanced, overcoming their previous playoff woes and proving that the Padres are still the “little brother” in the National League.
The Dodgers then took on the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series (NLCS). The team was simply too much for the Mets, outlasting New York in six games and scoring 46 runs in the series. The Dodgers lit up the scoreboard to win the National League pennant.
In their first World Series since 2020, Los Angeles faced their East Coast foe, the New York Yankees. The two storied franchises had played 11 previous times in the World Series, and this meeting had the storylines of and the potential to be a legendary matchup. Both teams were the number one seeds in their respective leagues, and the likely Most Valuable Players Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge were leading their teams into the fall classic.
The series itself, however, was one-sided. The Yankees took an early advantage in Game 1 of the World Series, but Freddie Freeman put on his best Kirk Gibson impression with a walk-off grand slam off Nestor Cortes. The Dodgers never looked back. Neither did Freeman, as the Dodgers hobbled star homered in the next three games of the series.
Los Angeles was dominant, taking a commanding 3-0 series lead. New York stole Game 4, with the hometown kid Anthony Volpe hitting a grand slam to stave off a sweep, but it was their only win.
In the decisive Game 5, the Yankees took an early 5-0 lead. The lead was short-lived. A trio of errors in the now-infamous top of the fifth inning allowed the Dodgers back into the game, and after Gerrit Cole finally recorded the third out, the Dodgers had tied it. Los Angeles would go onto win 7-6, their second championship in five years and a step towards a dynastic run.
The Dodgers are on top of the baseball world.
Los Angeles celebrates championship with parade
A sea of blue flooded the Los Angeles streets on Nov. 1 as the community united in celebrating the baseball world champions, the Dodgers. The Dodgers Victory Parade was crowded with highly passionate fans, all there to support their team. As a result of the shortened season in 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no parade after the Dodgers won the World Series. The streets were silent and looked nothing like they did at this year’s championship celebration.
Dodger players and their families waved from the top levels of eight double-decker buses that passed through the multiple-mile parade route. An estimated 2 million Dodger fans attended the parade, and 42,000 more attended the ticketed Dodger rally at Dodger Stadium. The rally included a performance from Ice Cube and ended with many speeches from the players, thanking the fans for their tremendous support throughout the season.
“We should’ve had this in 2020, but we’re bringing it now,” Dodger third baseman Max Muncy said. Muncy and many of his teammates emphasized that despite the lack of a parade after their 2020 World Series win, the team is now overjoyed that they can celebrate and bring this trophy home for the Los Angeles community.
Due to an injury, Clayton Kershaw was not able to pitch in the postseason. However, the Los Angeles legend’s strong speech rallied the fans at Dodger Stadium.
“I’ve waited to celebrate for a long time,” Kershaw said. “I can’t imagine being anywhere else right now. And I can’t imagine doing it with a better group of guys.”
Fan favorite Kiké Hernández also excited the crowd, telling stories of the Dodgers’ journey to the championship. Japanese stars Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani thanked the fans for their passion.
When it comes to the dedicated fandom of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the true magic behind their win was how it was able to bring so many fans from different backgrounds together to celebrate as one united community.
The legacy of legendary #42
By the 1940s, organized baseball had been racially segregated for many years. Black Americans had been playing in the Negro Leagues since the 19th century, separate from the fame and stardom of Major League Baseball (MLB).
While the league was set in its racist ways, the Dodgers understood that color did not define talent. When Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey set his “great experiment” into motion and took a chance on Jackie Robinson, Robinson became the first Black man to play in the MLB. Despite facing death threats and insults from opposing players and crowds, he broke the racial barrier in baseball, inviting a series of Black players and fellow Dodgers into the sport, including catcher Roy Campanella in 1948 and pitcher Don Newcombe in 1949.
The momentum of integrating baseball continued in the opening of Dodgertown. Once an abandoned WWII Naval Air Station, a slot of land in Vero Beach, Florida, was segregated before being leased out to the Dodgers to become a training facility. In 1948, Dodgertown opened, and for decades thereafter, served as a “college of baseball” for young talents of all racial backgrounds.
In a time of racial unrest, the contributions of Black players to the MLB put Black Americans into the cultural spotlight. In 1968, Newcombe hosted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for dinner while King concluded a tour of speeches and peaceful demonstrations. According to Newcombe, King expressed gratitude for the integration of baseball, telling him firsthand, “Don, you’ll never know how easy you and Jackie, and Larry and Campy, made it for me to do my job by what you did on the baseball field.”
Today, the Dodgers aim to eradicate the color line in baseball by providing underrepresented youth with baseball training through Dodgers Dreamteam — a development program that uses sports to provide resources to marginalized communities. In doing so, the Los Angeles team seeks to continue its historic legacy of racial inclusion.
Dodgers embrace Japanese fandom
On Oct. 25, as the Dodgers marched onto the field to face the Yankees in the 2024 World Series, 15.2 million televisions tuned into the event across Japan, almost a million more than in the U.S. Fueled by its fans, baseball has quickly become a cherished sport in Japan. As the MLB begins to integrate Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) players into their teams, the fiery passion and culture of their country has steadily grown as well.
Wanting to make the most of the untapped potential of players across the world, the Dodgers looked toward Japan, where baseball had become a popular sport and a factory for Major League players. By widening their search, the Dodgers were able to sign players who would otherwise be ignored by other teams. The Dodgers were able to sign highly talented players that went largely unnoticed by other MLB teams.
The attention of Japanese viewers was first drawn to the Dodgers when Japanese pitcher Hideo Nomo made his first career appearance against the San Francisco Giants, the Dodger’s lifelong rivals. Dazzling in his debut, Nomo pitched five scoreless innings, striking out seven batters. Watching his games broadcasted throughout the country, Japanese fans flocked to support Nomo, who went 13-6 in his rookie year. Some fans even traveled to the United States to see him pitch in person. Nomo’s performance helped to open a cultural exchange between the two countries and draw attention to the potential for Japanese baseball players in the MLB.
Today, the Dodgers have become a home for Japanese players, including stars Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani. After doing exceptionally well in the NPB, both quickly moved to the MLB. Ohtani’s performance on both the pitching mound and in the batter’s box not only made him popular across America, but also grew his image as a legend in Japan.
In Japan, Ohtani’s face, surrounded by Dodger blue, is plastered onto almost anything and everything possible. From cities installing large billboards to fans traveling across Japan just to watch the World Series and see his face, Ohtani’s success has made him an idol in Japan, drawing MLB scouts’ eyes to talented players in the NPB. An estimated 22 percent of Dodger Stadium tickets at the beginning of the season were sold to Japanese fans eager to support Ohtani. For many Japanese people, Ohtani has become “the pride of Japan,” as his image has helped to bring their culture into mainstream society and open opportunities in America.
The Dodgers were quick to capitalize on Ohtani’s groundbreaking 10-year, $700 million contract. Now, the stadium offers takoyaki, a fried octopus ball common in Japan, at games. Rows of advertisements at the stadium are dominated by Japanese companies. Recently, the Dodgers secured 12 new Japanese sponsors, began tours of the stadium in multiple languages including Japanese, and even went so far as to have the Japanese duo Creepy Nuts perform in the 2024 World Series.
Valenzuela and the Dodgers’ Mexican ties
In 1981, a young left-handed hurler from Navojoa, Mexico, named Fernando Valenzuela began his rookie season. He had debuted for the Dodgers the previous year, pitching a handful of innings in relief, but he was unproven and largely unknown heading into his first full season.
Over the next few months, Valenzuela would have one of the greatest starts to a career ever, capturing the attention of baseball fans and connecting Los Angeles’ large Latino population with Dodger baseball. But in fact, he was not even supposed to be a starter.
“Nobody expected it. The day before Opening Day, [the Dodgers] told him to stop throwing batting practice because he was pitching the next day,” Dodgers Historian Mark Langill said. “So he goes out and throws a 2-0 complete game shutout in his first major league start.”
The Dodgers’ newest star kept surging. Valenzuela won his first eight major league starts, taking the league by storm. During this time, he quickly became one of the most popular players in the game. Part of this was his unique pitching style — raising his leg high in the air and then looking to the sky before delivering a pitch.
The Mexican pitcher, nicknamed “El Toro” or “The Bull,” was also the driving force behind a rise in Latino Dodger fandom. The Dodgers’ Spanish language radio ratings increased, Latino attendance at Dodger home games skyrocketed, and Vin Scully famously said, “If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky” after a Valenzuela no-hitter. The frenzy around Valenzuela was called “Fernandomania,” and by the summer of 1981, it was in full effect.
“The crowds got bigger and bigger, but also people were interested in where he came from, this tiny town in Mexico,” Langill said. “Just imagine, he throws the shutout on Opening Day and two months later he’s one of the guests at a White House reception hosted by the presidents of the United States and Mexico. And all these people at the White House are lined up for his autograph, and he’s just a 20-year-old kid.”
The relationship between the Los Angeles Latino population and the Dodgers was not always favorable. When the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958, they played four seasons at the Coliseum while searching for a permanent home. During this time, the city of Los Angeles began planning a public housing project to build housing in Chavez Ravine. However, a large Latino community was living there at the time, so the city invoked eminent domain and took over the land.
Families forced to leave Chavez Ravine were promised a return to live in the city’s public housing. Despite this, Mayor Norris Paulson had already started moving families out of Chavez Ravine when he scrapped the project and offered the land to the Dodgers for their new stadium. The city continued with the evictions, deciding to displace the almost 2,000 families living in Chavez Ravine to allow the Dodgers to break ground on their new stadium. This was a dark and complicated chapter in Dodger history.
The Dodgers made a bad first impression on the millions of Latinos in Los Angeles. It was Valenzuela’s rise in 1981 that helped to repair the relationship between the Dodgers and the Latino community. Led by a Mexican ace, the Dodgers captured their interest for the first time since the evictions. Valenzuela and his signature screwball brought Latino fans to the ballpark.
“If you’re from Mexico, or if you’ve got that background, the Spanish-speaking culture, suddenly you’ve got this rockstar, this idol,” Langill said. “It’s like [Shohei] Ohtani this year. The face of baseball this year was from Japan; well in 1981, the face of baseball was from Mexico.”
Valenzuela joined the Dodgers’ Spanish language broadcast team in 2003 and called games for over 20 years, further fostering the Dodgers’ connection with Latinos in Los Angeles. On Sept. 24 of this year, Valenzuela stepped away from the team due to health issues, and he passed away a month later at the age of 63.
Valenzuela’s sudden death was saddening for Los Angeles. For many, Valenzuela was the reason they became Dodger fans. Listening to the Dodgers’ Spanish radio announcer Jaime Jarrín call Valenzuela’s games, the Dodgers became bigger than baseball for Los Angeles’ Spanish speakers, and when Valenzuela passed away, thousands of fans came to Chavez Ravine and placed flowers in front of the “Welcome to Dodger Stadium” sign to pay their respects.
The Dodgers won the World Series a week after his passing, wearing a “34” patch on their jerseys to honor the late legend. Los Angeles celebrated the championship with a parade attended by an estimated 2 million fans. Fittingly, the parade fell on Nov. 1, Valenzuela’s birthday.
