Dodgers Dugout: This sequel was better than the original

Hi and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. I drove by Dodger Stadium on Sunday, and there was Yoshinobu Yamamoto warming up in the bullpen.

—Wow, what can you say about that series? Probably the best World Series I’ve seen. The best World Series since the 1975 Boston-Cincinnati classic.

—The two best teams battling it out. Not making many mistakes. Clutch hitting. Clutch pitching. Clutch defense. Was there anything we didn’t get in those seven games? We didn’t get a steal of home. But that’s about it.

—The Blue Jays hit .269 in the series, the Dodgers hit .203. The Blue Jays scored 34 runs, the Dodgers scored 26. The Blue Jays made no errors, the Dodgers made three errors. And yet here we are.

—Before we get to the Dodgers, let’s talk about the Toronto Blue Jays. A classy organization. Classy fans. A team whose relievers put Alex Vesia‘s No. 51 on their caps to honor him. It would have hurt to lose, but it wouldn’t have hurt as bad losing to them. I hope they are able to be successful for a long time, and I hope they are able to keep Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette together for a long time.

—When the baseball gods smile upon you by having ball get wedged in the fence, you know things are looking up for your team.

—A lot of non-Dodgers fans were unhappy with that play, saying Justin Dean could have easily retrieved the ball instead of throwing his hands up. But the ground rules of the stadium say that if a ball gets wedged like that, it’s a ground-rule double.

—And then Kiké Hernández racing in to catch the fly ball and double off the runner with a great throw while on the run.

Hernández on the play: “For a split second, as [Tyler] Glasnow threw the ball, the crowd got quiet. I was able to hear that the bat broke, so I just got a really good jump on the ball. And I came in.”

Glasnow: “He caught it, threw him out, it was kind of crazy. Like, there wasn’t enough time to think.”

—And then Game 7. I have to admit, things looked bleak when Bichette hit that three-run home run off Shohei Ohtani. But the Dodgers kept chipping away. Even when Toronto tacked on an insurance run to make it 4-2.

—There was Max Muncy, quiet all series, with a big eighth-inning home run.

—OK, let’s be honest, in the ninth inning of Game 7, who was thinking “Maybe they should pinch-hit for Miguel Rojas here?”

—For once in my life, I was speechless when Rojas hit that home run. No loud scream, just “I don’t believe it. That can’t have just happened.”

—And there may be no better person for it to happen to than Rojas. Here’s a guy who spent extra hours working with Mookie Betts at short. Betts often praises Rojas. Rojas works with Hyeseong Kim at second, with Tommy Edman. These are guys who took playing time away from Rojas. But he was the ultimate team player, put his ego aside and helped teammates become better fielders.

—And then Rojas, who barely played the last month of the season, hardly played at all in the first two rounds of the postseason and didn’t play at all in the NLCS, didn’t whine or complain. He stayed ready and got the most important hit of his career.

—For all the talk about how much money the Dodgers spend, it was the guy making $5 million who saved the season.

—And finally, the last out goes to Betts at short. The guy who was maligned by many this season for poor hitting and average defense. Maligned by this newsletter. Well, I was wrong. Betts proved he is an everyday shortstop. We can quibble over his hitting, but his fielding was superb. I predict a bounce-back year at the plate next season.

—And there’s Clayton Kershaw warming up in the bullpen in that last inning. If Alejandro Kirk doesn’t ground into a double play, it’s entirely possible Kershaw comes in to face the next batter. Wouldn’t that have been something? In his final appearance, on the mound to win or lose the game for his team. But the baseball gods spared him.

—And there’s Dave Roberts, pushing all the right buttons for the second postseason in a row. Managed the bullpen masterfully. Started Rojas as a spark for Game 6 and it worked. Brought in Andy Pages for defense literally the batter before he made that game-saving catch. Roberts is going into the Hall of Fame when he retires. And if you are still a Roberts detractor after hearing every player praise him, after hearing Derek Jeter, David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez praise him, then I don’t know what to tell you. I guarantee he will make some decisions that will drive some of us crazy next season. Decisions that don’t make sense. But he has earned some grace from all Dodgers fans.

—By the way, on that catch, how strong is Pages? He collided at full speed with Kiké and barely moved, while Kiké went flying. Kiké stayed on the ground and looked like he was hurt, but it turns out he thought no one caught the ball and they had lost. And there’s no way Tommy Edman would have made that catch on his bum ankle.

—Finally, Yamamoto. What can you say about a guy who pitches two consecutive complete games, followed by six strong inning in Game 6, then says “Hey, I can pitch in Game 7” and throws 2-2/3 innings? There aren’t many pitchers who could have done that, and even fewer who would have volunteered to do it. He deserved every inch of that World Series MVP award.

—And Yamamoto is a pitcher, so the odds are he will hit some rough spots during next season, or the season after that. If anyone decides to boo the man if he struggles for a few starts, then I will find you and laugh at you.

—So, two titles in a row. This is uncharted territory for the team. Three titles in six seasons. We should feel fortunate and blessed.

—Finally, I was trying to figure out a way to wrap this up. And then something happened. On Sunday, I went to my local Walgreens and there in an aisle was a man wearing a Dodgers jersey. I walked by and said “Go Dodgers.” He said “Yes!” and told me how he was able to go see Game 4 at Dodger Stadium. That he will be paying off the tickets for a while, but he now has a cherished memory with his son, even though the Dodgers lost that game. A man nearby overheard and walked over and started talking about the Dodgers. Then a woman overheard and chimed in. Then one of the employees. For about 20 minutes in the middle of a Walgreens in Glendora, about 10 Dodgers fans talked about how great Game 7 was.

And it hit me. If you took a picture of us, we would look like we had nothing in common. An older white guy, the younger Latino with tattoos everywhere. The mom with two little kids. The middle-aged Black man wearing the Jackie Robinson jersey. The lady stocking the shelves. The Asian man who became a Dodgers fan because of Ohtani and couldn’t stop smiling. And more. It was a true melting pot.

Sports is the great unifier. If we started talking about other things in life, we probably would disagree about things and wouldn’t spend two minutes together. But for 20 minutes, we were all the same. We were Dodgers fans basking in the glow of what our team did. How it brightened our week. There were high-fives and fist bumps all around when the little group broke up. We probably will never see each other again, but for a brief time we were a family. That’s what sports can do for people, and that’s what the Dodgers did for many more Saturday.

So, thank you Dodgers. And when you pass by a person wearing some Dodgers gear, say “Go Dodgers!” You never know what it will lead to.

Parade today!

The parade to celebrate the victory starts at 11 a.m. It begins at West Temple Street and North Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, then will travel west on Temple, south on Grand Avenue, west on Seventh Street and north on Figueroa Street, ending at Fifth Street.

Afterward, there will be a rally at Dodger Stadium starting at 12:15. You need a ticket to attend, which you can get here: dodgers.com/postseason.

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.

If you attend the parade, it will be impossible for you to get to the stadium for the rally, so please pick one or the other. Many people learned this the hard way last year.

What’s next?

This concludes the 11th season of Dodgers Dugout. God willing, there will be a 12th. But we aren’t disappearing for the entire offseason. I still have to conclude the greatest Dodgers series with the managers list. (Thought I forgot, didn’t you?) If anyone wants to change the five greatest managers list based on this season, feel free to email me a new ballot.

And we also will be back sometime this month to discuss the free agent situation as far as who is signed and unsigned heading into next season.

But for now, just relax, enjoy the glow. After all, this is supposed to be fun!

In case you missed it

Hernández: Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s remarkable World Series Game 7 became his playoff exclamation point

Shaikin: Why Magic Johnson believes Dodgers’ World Series success is good for baseball

East L.A. Dodgers fans celebrate World Series

‘I’m just really elated.’ How Dave Roberts helped the Dodgers dig deep to win World Series

Complete coverage: How the Dodgers won the 2025 World Series

New Times book ‘Dynasty’ commemorating back-to-back Dodgers World Series wins on sale now

Plaschke: Back to back! Dodgers nab dynasty-defining victory over Blue Jays in World Series Game 7

Dodgers win the World Series, cementing their dynasty | Dodgers Debate

Dodgers cement their dynasty in World Series win over Blue Jays

And finally

The Dodgers win the World Series. Watch and listen here.

Until next time...

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.