After 36 years, the Dodgers have a date for a World Series championship parade: It’s Friday.
The Dodgers last paraded Los Angeles in 1988. The Dodgers won the World Series championship in 2020, but public health protections surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic prevented a parade at the time.
On Wednesday, the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees 7-6 to win their second championship in five seasons. They will enjoy a parade this time, without the frustration of a month in a postseason bubble and without being able to share a celebration with their fans.
They will also be eager to shake off criticism that the 2020 championship was somehow less legitimate because the pandemic-shortened season lasted 60 games instead of 162.
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“I think it affects everyone,” infielder Gavin Lux said Tuesday. “We were all in the same situation and we still won that year. We were all in the same boat doing the same thing. Personally, I don’t think this is the right story, but I think it irritates everyone a little that you don’t get the recognition you deserve.
“I think it was probably harder to win that year. You’ll want the full season, though, just to throw that whole story out the window.
In 1988, the Dodgers paraded north along Broadway toward a meeting at City Hall. The city expected so many fans there, The Times reported thisthat “workers painted large white numbers on the trees on the City Hall lawn so that officials could be quickly dispatched to the right spot in case fans fell to the ground.”
The Dodgers spoke from a podium, with the trophy on an adjacent table for all fans to see.
Manager Tommy Lasorda, dressed in a jacket and tie, shouted to the crowd: “Every game, as we entered the clubhouse, our theme was: ‘How wonderful it is to taste the fruits of victory!’ ”
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Lasorda demanded that Kirk Gibson, who was the 1988 home run that lives foreverjoin him on stage.
Lasorda bloomed, “Give it to me! What is our theme at the end of each game? Say it again! Say it again!”
Gibson, wearing a white Dodgers T-shirt, conceded. He stood up from his chair, walked to the microphone and shouted, ‘How sweet! The fruits of victory!”
And then Lasorda danced.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
