(Source: Reuters)

The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated their World Series victory in a rousing victory parade through downtown Los Angeles, taking advantage of the festivities they were denied when the team won the 2020 baseball championship during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hordes of fans clad in Dodger blue chanted “Freddie, Freddie” As the series’ MVP, Freddie Freeman rode atop one of the many double-decker buses passing City Hall.

“It’s incredible” Freeman said.

“LA really showed up today. I think it made up for 2020.”

Japanese slugger Shohei Ohtani carried his brown and white dog, Decoy, who wore an Ohtani jersey.

Decoy was a regular at Dodger Stadium during the season and became a fan favorite.

Players and fans rejoiced as the team won 4 games to 1 against the New York Yankees to secure the franchise’s eighth title.

“There are no words for this” said lifelong Dodgers fan Hugo Mirandaho, who attended the team’s final championship parade in 1988.

“As you can see, we have so many fans here today. We’ve been waiting for this since 1988. In 2020 we had a championship, a lot of people didn’t call it a championship, but I think it was.

The Dodgers won the title four years ago after a truncated 60-game season and no parades were held in an effort to stem the spread of the virus.

“I’m so happy we won. It’s great for the whole city,” said Dodgers fan Bobby Trahan.

“Everyone comes together and it’s just a lot of love.”

Besides Dodgers stars Ohtani, Freeman and three-time champion Mookie Betts, fan Jose Lara said someone else deserves some credit for the team’s victory.

“There is one person I would like to thank. None of this would have been possible without Aaron Judge. he said of the Yankees slugger.

Judge struggled at the plate early in the series and made a critical error in Game 5 that opened the door for an epic comeback by the Dodgers to secure the title.

“Thank you Aaron” » Lara said with a smile.

The crowd sometimes spontaneously began to interpret “Happy birthday” for Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela, the beloved Mexican pitcher who was born on November 1 and died last month.

“A lot of people say that Fernando helped us” said Dodgers fan Bobby Trahan.

“Without Fernando we wouldn’t have won that last match, so thank you Mr. El Toro.”

Trahan said the team’s victory only made him hungry.

“It feels really good and we want one more next year. I think we can start again. he said.

“I want to come back.”