Champion Dodgers Celebrate With Fans

Shohei Ohtani and the rest of the Dodgers celebrated their second straight World Series championship with a confetti-drenched parade in downtown Los Angeles and a stadium rally on Monday after becoming the first team in 25 years to win back-to-back titles. "I'm already thinking about the third time we're going to do this," Ohtani, the team's two-way star, told Spectrum SportsNet television through a translator, the AP reports. Manager Dave Roberts hoisted the Commissioner's Trophy while aboard one of several buses that traversed a route packed with cheering, flag-waving blue-clad fans. "B 2 B" read one of many hand-lettered signs held up in the crowd.

"I feel like it's almost double from last year," first baseman Freddie Freeman said. "These fans are crazy. It's so awesome to be a part of this." On one streetcorner, a fan said he'd pulled his children out of school to attend the parade and will do it every time the Dodgers win, per the Los Angeles Times. They came down with the "Dodger flu," he said. More fans were waiting at Dodger Stadium, where the team went after the parade. World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto waved to fans. "I love the moments to share this kind of thing with my teammates," he said through a translator. Yamamoto won three games in the Dodgers' series victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Ohtani gave his stadium speech in English instead of Japanese, per KABC, a rarity. "I want to say, I am so proud of this team. And I want to say, you guys are the greatest fans in the world. And, I am ready to get another ring next year. Let's go!" Ohtani said. Clayton Kershaw, the longtime starting pitcher who officially retired after the series, told the stadium crowd he was fighting back tears, per the Times. He thanked the fans and his teammates for the past 18 years, to prolonged cheering. "Today I get to say that I'm a champion for life, and that's never going away," Kershaw said.