In a Dark Year, Los Angeles Basks in the Dodgers’ Glow

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U.S.|In a Dark Year, Los Angeles Basks in the Dodgers’ Glow

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/us/los-angeles-celebrates-dodgers.html

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Scars of wildfires and immigration raids won’t soon fade, but like the city itself, the Dodgers persevered and gave Southern California residents the rally they needed.

Several people stand, raise their hands and shout in an outdoor patio of a bar.

By Shawn HublerRachel Parsons and Lauren Herstik

Reporting from Southern California

Nov. 2, 2025Updated 3:48 a.m. ET

In their blue caps and Ohtani jerseys, they texted loved ones and filled the night sky with fireworks. They celebrated in homes on the edges of burn scars. They hugged in suburban bars where protests rattled the windows just months ago.

As Southern Californians watched the Los Angeles Dodgers power through 11 innings on Saturday to beat the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 of the World Series, an impromptu party erupted with a catharsis and joy that was about more than baseball — a celebration not of only excellence, but of the will to endure.

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Fans celebrated in the streets near the stadium.Credit...Mark Abramson for The New York Times

Southern California has been through a grueling year that included disasters that devastated Pacific Palisades and nearby Altadena in January and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdowns. In an interview during the first inning of Saturday’s game, Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles said that she was hoping intensely for a victory that would bolster morale in her city.

A win by the Dodgers would mean a parade and civic celebration on Monday, she said, honoring the team’s second championship in two years.

“I want to see 200,000 people out in the street, celebrating peacefully, having a good time,” she said. “The Dodgers are part of our DNA, and the city has been on pins and needles. Given the year we’ve had, we can use this burst of adrenaline, this burst of good will.”