The Dodgers win the World Series! LA takes to the streets with fireworks, excitement

Ecstatic fans took to the streets of Los Angeles in a celebratory show Wednesday night after the Dodgers won their eighth World Series title.

They became the first Major League Baseball team to win a World Series-clinching game when they trailed by five runs, coming back to defeat the New York Yankees 7-6 in Game 5.

Fans filled the streets near LA Live in downtown Los Angeles and Whittier Boulevard in East LA, dancing, setting off fireworks and singing. Neighbors banged pots and pans on their porches as firecrackers, fireworks and sirens went off in Highland Park. And in Little Tokyo, fans gathered around the Shohei Ohtani mural to celebrate the beloved player who became the first player in history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season.

The Los Angeles Police Department reported that several stores near 8th and Broadway appeared to have been broken into but no details were available. There are widespread reports of vandalism in the area.

Fireworks displays across the city equaled the Fourth of July, while Los Angeles City Hall and the “D” on the Hollywood sign were lit up Dodger blue to celebrate the win.

A flag-waving fan stands on the open roof of a car as the car drives along Whittier Boulevard.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

Authorities have closed off some streets in East LA and downtown in hopes of preventing some of the wilder celebrations that occur when the Dodgers win in 2020.

However, the power of the fans could not be lost.

In East Los Angeles, the fireworks started going off when Walker Buehler hit Alex Verdugo to win the series. People came out of their homes and headed toward Whittier Boulevard, the Eastside’s historic corridor.

“This is unbelievable!” shouted Boyle Heights resident Jessica Gutierrez, 33. “We’ve been waiting for you for so long, and you should be with all your fellow Dodger fans.”

The LA Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol had a roadblock at the intersection of Whittier and Atlantic streets in an attempt to stop the cruise, but to no avail – the cars just made a U-turn on Hillview Avenue.

Along Hoefner Avenue in front of the Commerce Center, fans stopped in the middle of Whittier Boulevard to film the passing parade. Although it was crowded to do spin outs, the cars still spun the tires to burn the rubber, to the delight of the crowds.

“Oh my God, that was the worst show I’ve ever seen,” one fan told KCAL News at a watch party in downtown LA “We’re back on top after 2020 and we finally got our show!”

The Dodgers showdown will take place on Friday and will be the first in 36 years after a hoped-for 2020 public celebration was disrupted by COVID-19.

“Tonight, we showed the world that Los Angeles is made of CHAMPIONS,” wrote LA Mayor Karen Bass in a statement on X. “Congratulations to the Dodgers on their win tonight. I look forward to seeing you back in LA!”

After falling behind 5-0 in the first four innings of the game at Yankee Stadium, the team surprisingly staged a five-run comeback in the fifth.

“It was strange! I was nervous, but we kept our faith and luckily things turned out well for us,” one fan told KCAL News at a viewing event in Pasadena. “I’m happy and I’m happy that we won.”

Excited fans gather at Tom’s Watch Bar at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday night.

(Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times)

The Yankees scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning on home runs by Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm. They pushed to a 5-0 lead with one run in the second and third innings. The Dodgers tied the score with a five-run fifth inning, helped by two Yankees errors.

After the Yankees regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dodgers scored two runs in the top of the eighth.

City News Service contributed to this article