The champs celebrate with fans after winning their second straight World Series title. Yamamoto is named the series MVP.

With wife Mamiko leaning against him, Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani waves to cheering fans in Downtown Los Angeles on Monday, as the team rode double-decker buses in a victory parade along Grand Avenue. The Dodgers captured their second straight World Series title with a dramatic 5-4 victory in Game 7 over the Toronto Blue Jays in Canada on Nov. 1. The parade was followed by a celebratory rally at a packed Dodger Stadium. (MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS / Rafu Shimpo)

Rafu Staff and Wire Service Reports

The sun hadn’t yet peeked over the horizon early Monday, but plenty of folks were on the Metro A Line, on their way to join scores of fans who had already staked out prime viewing spots.

For the second straight year, a parade was being held Downtown to celebrate the Dodgers winning the World Series, after they defended their title in a thrilling Game 7 against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday.

Team members, relatives and other Dodger employees traveled atop double-decker buses, waving to adoring fans as they were showered with confetti and screams of appreciation.

More than 200,000 people attended last year’s World Series parade, and officials predicted even more this year. The parade began shortly after 11 a.m. at Temple and Broadway, then continued west on Temple Street, south on Grand Avenue, west on Seventh Street, and north on Figueroa Street, ending at Fifth Street at about noon. Fans blew horns, waved banners and hoisted signs with messages of support.

Dodgers manager Dave Robert holds onto the World Series championship trophy as he waves to the crowd of over 200,000 along the parade route. (MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS / Rafu Shimpo)

Riding alongside his wife, Mamiko, Dodgers designated hitter and pitcher Shohei Ohtani spotted a young fan holding a sign that read, “Shohei, Marry My Mother.” Mrs. Ohtani playfully shielded her husband’s eyes as they passed.

Another placard read “This Is How We Ruin Baseball,” referring to manager Dave Roberts’ response to criticism over the Dodgers’ payroll this season of over $350 million – the first- second-highest in baseball, depending on the calculated estimates.

Ohtani, whose World Series feats included reaching base nine times with four hits – two of them home runs – in an epic 18-inning Game 3 victory, gave a television interview while riding the bus.

“Being able to celebrate together like this is the most wonderful experience,” he said.

Both Ohtani and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto have won two championships since joining the Dodgers last year, and the two-way superstar said they had no plans of stopping.

“I’m already focused on my third championship,” Ohtani said.

The Dodgers captured their ninth World Series crown on Saturday to become the first back-to-back champions since the New York Yankees won three in a row from 1998 to 2000.

Will Smith belted a go-ahead solo home run in the 11th inning and staff ace Yamamoto got the last eight outs as L.A. rallied for a heart-stopping 5-4 Game 7 win over the host Blue Jays.

Yamamoto (5-1 in the postseason) was named the World Series Most Valuable Player in the wake of his clutch performance out of the bullpen, which sealed a four-games-to-three win in the roller-coaster best-of-seven series, a day after he pitched the Dodgers to a do-or-die Game 6 victory.

The 27-year-old right-hander, who threw a complete game in the Dodgers’ Game 2 win, became the first Japanese player to receive the award since Hideki Matsui with the New York Yankees in 2009.

“I wasn’t thinking about anything. It felt as if I’d returned to a boy playing junior baseball,” Yamamoto said of his unanticipated start. “After pitching last night, I had treatment and was getting ready just in case.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts stands tall aboard a double-decker bus Monday, waving to an elated crowd as L.A. celebrated its second consecutive World Series title with a Downtown parade and celebration rally at Dodger Stadium. The Boys in Blue defeated the Toronto Blue Jays to repeat at the champs of baseball (JUN NAGATA / Rafu Shimpo)

Making a two-way start on short rest in Game 7, Ohtani went 2-for-5 at the plate but was knocked out after just 2-1/3 innings on the mound by Bo Bichette’s three-run homer.

L.A. rallied late with solo home runs from Max Muncy in the eighth and Miguel Rojas in the ninth to tie the game 4-4 heading into the last regulation frame at Rogers Centre.

Television replays showed Roberts reacting to the Rojas homer in disbelief, pulling his hat over his head and briefly closing his eyes.

Smith put the Dodgers ahead for the first time with his towering home run to left field off regular starter Shane Bieber (2-1) with two out in the top of the 11th before Yamamoto got out of a two-on, one-out jam with a double play in the home half to clinch the championship.

“I didn’t have real confidence about whether I could pitch until going to the bullpen,” Yamamoto said upon accepting his MVP trophy. “I don’t know what’s happening but it’s just great. I did everything I could and I’m really happy to have won with this team.”

Amid the spray of champagne in the visitors’ clubhouse after the game, Yamamoto said the award was a credit to the support he has received from his teammates and staff.

“It’s the best, and it’s great that I will be able to share this with the fans,” he said. “This is what we’ve worked for.”

Fans flooded into Little Tokyo following the victory parade, with many stopping in at local stores and restaurants. (MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS / Rafu Shimpo)

“We had no easy games, including the regular season and it’s a title we all grabbed together,” said Ohtani, who is expected to collect his fourth regular-season MVP award this year.

At the Dodger Stadium rally Monday, Roberts thanked the fans for their support, and gave them a message.

“A word stuck out really to me after we won Game 7, the word mirror. And the reason I bring this up is because every time we take the field, our players look in the mirror and what we see is you guys,” Roberts said. “We see toughness, see passion and see perseverance.

“I’ll tell you right now, this group of guys right now was never going to be denied to bring this city another championship,” Roberts added.

Rookie pitcher Roki Sasaki, who overcame the disappointment of an injury-shortened regular season to play a crucial role out of the bullpen in the playoffs, celebrated his 24th birthday the same day as the victory parade.

He smiled shyly when fans cheered as the stadium DJ played his walk-up song, the Spanish-language dance track “Bailalo Rocky,” which was bestowed on the right-hander by teammate and World Series Game 7 home run hero Rojas.

Sasaki emerged as the Dodgers’ postseason closer, giving stability to the often-shaky bullpen with key saves in the playoffs.

Ohtani has been named a finalist for the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award and Yamamoto was named a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award, as voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Olympic Shop in Little Tokyo was doing brisk business throughout the day following the parade and rally at Dodger Stadium. (MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS / Rafu Shimpo)

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