You didn’t have to be watching the seventh game of the World Series to know that the Dodgers clinched back-to-back wins.
This is Los Angeles, after all.
So sounds of fireworks exploding seemingly in every direction gave it away. The team couldn’t see the light show from Toronto, but they were hard to miss across the L.A. Basin.
And soon, the streets of downtown Los Angeles, Echo Park, East L.A. and elsewhere were crowded with fans celebrating.
“It’s crazy out here, back to back,” said Dodgers fan Steven Gomez of L.A. as he watched a firework explode overhead in Echo Park. “L.A. never gives up, man. Like Kobe said, the job isn’t finished.”
Gomez emphasized that nobody throws a celebration quite like his hometown. “This is L.A. We love all coming out together as a community,” he said.
In a year of unprecedented upheaval across the city — the January firestorms, summer immigration sweeps — fans and city leaders alike took the Dodgers’ victory with extra symbolism this time.
“With the wildfires, we needed this too,” Magic Johnson, co-owner of the Dodgers, told KCBS after the victory in Toronto. “This [helps] bring our city back closer together.”
Police said seven people were arrested on various charges after the game. One person was arrested on suspicion of battery of a peace officer, while a woman was arrested on suspicion of injuring an animal after she allegedly rode her bicycle into a police horse, said Officer Norma Eisenman of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations Division.
Three people were arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism of a Metro bus, one for failure to disperse and another for possession of fireworks, police added, without providing locations or times.
But the celebrations brought a rare air of bipartisanship — at least for a few moments Saturday night.
“Once again, we showed the world that L.A. is the city of champions,” Mayor Karen Bass said.
President Trump posted on Truth Social with his own tribute: “A lesser group of men would never have been able to win that game, or game 6, for that matter. So many stars made it all happen. Also, congratulations to ownership … SEE YOU ALL AT THE WHITE HOUSE!!!”
Los Angeles will have another opportunity to party with the Dodgers, this time in person.
The Dodgers’ 2025 championship parade starts at 11 a.m. Monday and runs through downtown, followed by a rally at Dodger Stadium. The rally requires a ticket, which can be obtained starting at noon Sunday at dodgers.com/postseason.
The parade will begin at West Temple Street and North Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, then will travel west on Temple, south on Grand Avenue, west on 7th Street and north on Figueroa Street, ending at 5th Street.
The Dodgers will travel atop double-decker buses during the parade.
For fans with rally tickets, parking lot gates will open at 8:30 a.m. and stadium gates at 9 a.m. The event is expected to start about 12:15 p.m.
The parade and rally will be aired live on Channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 11 as well as SportsNet LA and AM 570, the team said.
Local authorities had planned for possible problems after the game. There were a few tense moments but officials said there were few reports of vandalism or criminal activity.
In Echo Park, blocks from Dodger Stadium, police shut Sunset Boulevard to car traffic in the middle of Game 7. At least one area bar was told by authorities to turn off its outdoor screen during the ninth inning as a large crowd gathered.
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As the last play of the game was made, fans at another Echo Park bar jumped up and down in excitement. Fireworks and car alarms filled the air as drivers honked their horns and cheers could be heard from all directions.
At Echo Park Avenue and Sunset Boulevard, hundreds of fans flooded the closed intersection. In the middle, several men shot off fireworks every few minutes. The occasional car came by to rev its engine, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Police gathered a block away and began to establish a perimeter as a sideshow broke out in the intersection. Several young men leaned out of a car as it did doughnuts, and a few dozen people waved flags in a circle at the center of the action. Hundreds of onlookers gathered, many recording on their phones.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their second straight World Series championship with a thrilling 5-4 win in 11 innings in Game 7
Police officers used horses and tear gas canisters to disperse crowds at one point.
In Santa Monica, the 90-foot-tall Ferris wheel at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier celebrated the team’s victory with a blue and white light display and a message that read: “Dodgers Win!’’ and “Go Dodgers!”
Fans celebrate as the Dodgers take the lead and eventually win the World Series in Game 7 at Tom’s Watch Bar in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday.
(Jonathan Alcorn / For The Times)
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In anticipation of possible celebrations, the Los Angeles Police Department went on a citywide tactical alert shortly before 6 p.m., according to Officer Eisenman.
The police department closed several streets around L.A. Live and Crypto.com Arena and rerouted L.A. Metro buses from Figueroa Street to Hope Street between Pico and Olympic boulevards. The hard closures also prohibited ride-sharing services from entering.
A Dodger fan celebrates in front of an LAPD skirmish line outside LA Live after the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series.
(Jonathan Alcorn / For The Times)
The police department later gave dispersal orders to people gathering along Figueroa Boulevard and at Chick Hearn Court.
In East L.A., the California Highway Patrol blocked off Olympic Boulevard at Atlantic Boulevard, an effort to divert traffic and prevent street shows. Even so, one car managed to stop in the middle of the intersection, spinning doughnuts while people set off fireworks, causing the crowd to cheer. A motorcycle followed soon after.
Shortly after 10 p.m. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies fired tear gas and moved in toward the crowd, causing people to walk away from the intersection. A small bush had caught fire. It was unclear what caused the fire.
In some ways, L.A.’s twisted road in 2025 mirrors that of the Dodgers.
“Look back at the miles that we’ve logged this year,” manager Dave Roberts after the World Series victory. “We never wavered. It’s a long season and we persevered, and we’re the last team standing.”