The holiday had barely begun when Shohei Ohtani voiced the theme of the day for the first time.
“I'm already thinking about the third time,” he said in Japanese, standing on the roof of a double-decker bus in downtown Los Angeles, among thousands of blue-clad, flag-waving people celebrating the championship. Dodgers fans lined the streets around him for the team 2025 World Series parade.
It turns out he was not alone.
Two days removed from dramatic victory in game seven making the Dodgers baseball's first multiple champions in 25 years, the team rolled through the streets of downtown and came out to a sold-out rally at Dodgers Stadium on Monday already thinking about what lies ahead in 2026.
With three titles in the last six seasons, their modern dynasty can now be strengthened.
But their goal is to continue this “golden era of Dodger baseball” as a top executive Andrew Friedman has repeatedly called for this, is still far from complete.
“All I Want to Tell You” Owner and Chairman Mark Walter told 52,703 fans at a rally at the team's stadium: “We'll be back next year.”
“I have a crazy idea for you,” Friedman repeated. – How about we do this again?
When the manager Dave Roberts took the microphone, he tripled that goal: “What's better than two? Three! Three-pit! Three-pet! Let's go.”
When buddy Mookie Bettsthe only active player with four World Series rings followed, he quadrupled the anticipation: “I got four. Now it's time to get my arm full, baby. Three-peat never sounded so cute. Somebody make a T-shirt out of it.”
For these Dodgers who made history and cemented a legacy, Monday was a reminder of the ultimate end goal – the kind of scene that, as they enter another short winter, will soon fuel their motivation for another confetti-filled parade, this time next year.
“For me, the defining moment of winning a championship is the parade,” Friedman said. “The joy of it, when you get to the final, no matter what game you win it in, is special. This night is special. But being able to take a breath and then experience the parade, in my opinion, is what always made me want to win.”
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“[To] do it for the city, that's what it's all about.” – First baseman Freddie Freeman added. “There's nothing more important than winning the championship. And if that happens three times in a row, then so be it. But that's what will keep us going.”
Last November First Dodgers parade in 36 years was new.
Most of the group were part of the 2020 championship team that was denied such a serenade after that pandemic-altered campaign. They waited four long years to see the citywide celebration. The reception they received was sentimental and unique.
Now, as third baseman Max Muncy said with a wicked grin from a makeshift stage in the Dodger Stadium outfield, “It's starting to get a little comfortable in here. Let's continue.”
“Loser”, star pitcher and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto – he added in English in response to one of his memorable quotes, uttered last October, – “this is not an option.”
This will not be easy to do.
This year, the Dodgers' win total fell to 93 during an inconsistent regular season. They had to play in the wild card round for the first time since the playoff expansion in 2022. And in the World Series, they had to be eliminated in games six and seven, winning both narrowly to complete their quest for a repeat.
“I still can’t believe we won Game 7,” the fan favorite. Kike Hernandez said in an interview on the bus.
But he quickly added: “We are all winners. Winners win.”
So they also get the same holidays as Monday.
As they did 367 days ago, the Dodgers wound up their parade route in front of tens of thousands of fans from Temple Street to Grand Avenue, from 7th Street to Figueroa. Both on board the double-decker buses and in the maddened crowds below, delight was boiling and streams of drinks were flowing.
Once the team arrived at Dodger Stadium, they climbed to the top of the blue circular ledge in center field, the final symbolic step on the road back to the pinnacle of the sport.
Anthony Anderson introduced them to the crowd, and Ice Cube delivered the trophy in a blue 1957 Chevy Bel-Air.
They hope the familiar scenes will become an annual tradition.
“The 2024 job is done. The 2025 job is done,” Freeman said. “Jobs in 2026? Starts now.”
The Dodgers did take a while to acknowledge their newfound place in baseball history, becoming just the sixth MLB team to win three titles in six years and the first since the New York Yankees from 1998 to 2000 to win back-to-back.
If last year's parade felt more like a belated coronation, this one served to crystallize their legacy.
“Everyone was asking questions about the dynasty,” Hernandez said. “How about three in six years? How about back to back?”
And on Monday, all the main characters in this storybook got their moment in the sun.
There was, as team broadcaster and rally announcer Joe Davis described him, the “Hall of Fame” Roberts, who is now second only to Walter Alston in team history with three World Series rings.
“We talked about last year, wanting to get it back,” he said. “And I’ll tell you right now, this group of guys will never be denied from bringing this city another championship.”
There was Game 7 hero Miguel Rojas, who unexpectedly summoned Rocky Sasaki on his birthday closer to October to dance to his opening song “Bailalo Rocky”; — Sasaki timidly complied with the request, shaking his fist to the beat.
Yamamoto, who scored heroic victories in games six and seven, received one of the loudest ovations of the day.
“We did this together,” he said. “I love the Dodgers. I love Los Angeles.”
Muncy, Ohtani and Blake Snell also addressed the crowd.
“I’m trying to get used to it,” Snell said.
“I’m ready to get another ring next year,” Ohtani reiterated.
The face of the franchise who won't be back in this pursuit: Clayton Kershawwho entered the sunset of retirement, spending his final day at Dodger Stadium holding back tears as he thanked the crowd at the end of his distinguished (and also Hall of Fame-bound) 18-year career.
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“Last year I said I'd be a Dodger for life. And today it's true,” Kershaw said. “And today I can say that I am a champion for life. And that will never go away.”
Kershaw, of course, is one of the few still alive from the club's dark days in the early 2010s, when money was tight, playoff appearances were uncertain and parades were something only dreamed of, not expected.
However, when he left, the team was completely transformed.
The Dodgers have now made 13 straight postseasons. They set payroll records and added a wave of star signings to their roster. They have turned their championship aspirations into an annual expectation, proud but dissatisfied with what they have achieved so far.
“I think by definition this is a dynasty,” said Friedman, the architect of the project with the help of Walter's wealthy Guggenheim ownership group. “But for me, it limits things a lot if you say, 'OK, this is what it is.' For me it is still evolving and growing. We want to add to this. We want to continue that and we're doing everything we can to take it to a level that people after us will have a hard time achieving.”
On Monday, they raised that bar a notch higher.
“This parade was the craziest thing I've ever seen or been a part of,” Kershaw said. “This is truly the most incredible day to retire from.”
The Dodgers' long road to another tournament begins Tuesday.
“I know they’ll get another one next year,” Kershaw told the crowd. “And I will watch, just like all of you.”
