LOS ANGELES — They invited everyone to the party this time.
Before winning the World Series last year, the Dodgers often bemoaned what they had missed out on following their championship in 2020. There was no parade through the streets of Los Angeles that time due to the pandemic. When they received their rings the following March, it was with a spectacular show featuring personalized videos for each player.
But only 15,036 fans were allowed in the stadium for the occasion due to pandemic restrictions.
After they beat the New York Yankees to win again in 2024, they got their parade. Friday night at Dodger Stadium, they checked another item off their list.
The challenges of Southern California traffic left many empty seats when Keith Williams Jr. and choir kicked off the festivities by singing a gospel-ized version of “We Are the Champions.” But the roars were full-sized as each player was introduced by actor Anthony Anderson before receiving their 2024 World Series championship ring on a stage set up near the pitcher’s mound.
National League MVP Shohei Ohtani, World Series MVP Freddie Freeman, pitcher Clayton Kershaw and Manager Dave Roberts received some of the loudest cheers as they walked to the stage, with the fans chanting “Fred-die! Fred-die!” when it was Freeman’s turn.
They were greeted with hugs from team owner Mark Walter, President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman, President and CEO Stan Kasten and General Manager Brandon Gomes, who presented each coach and player with a blue box containing their ring.
“I think any time you get a ring it’s super special,” Kershaw said of the occasion. “Obviously my role was pretty limited last year to win it (due to injury). I’m still going to enjoy it. I’m excited to see it (the ring). More so for the fans too, for them to be here and recognize what the team accomplished is super cool.”
The pregame ceremony before Thursday’s home opener was also a celebration of the 2024 championship, with the team unveiling its World Series championship flag in center field and an emblem on the right field suite level. But Friday’s ring ceremony was a “very special” way for the team to put last season behind them with one more celebration, Roberts said before the game.
“I guess all the things that we’ve endured over, since we won the World Series, this is the final piece,” said Roberts, who said he had not seen the rings ahead of time. “Just to kind of have the fans here to enjoy this with us, the players, to kind of close the book on 2024 and still stay focused on the baseball game tonight.
“There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall, with the Dodger fan base. Our players feel that.”
Kiké Hernandez was feeling something else on Thursday and missed the home opener due to illness. But he strutted up the blue carpet to receive his ring Friday.
“He wasn’t going to miss this one,” Roberts said of Hernandez, who was part of the 2020 championship team but had moved on to the Boston Red Sox in 2021.
The rings the players received (designed in concert with Jostens) featured the LA logo crafted from sapphires and surrounded by 47 diamonds. The top of ring opens to reveal a representation of the Commissioner’s Trophy set inside Dodger Stadium. Thirty-four sapphires surround the base – an homage to Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela who died just days before the World Series opener. Eight diamonds represent each of the team’s World Series titles and the years 1883 and 2024 mark the franchise’s 142 seasons.
The left side of the ring top interior includes a piece from the bases used in the World Series. The players’ signatures are engraved on the interior palm of the ring, and one final touch resides on the bottom of the ring: Five diamonds to signify the five-run deficit the Dodgers overcame in the title-clinching Game 5. Inside the box’s lid, a video plays highlights of the World Series.
Former Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty started for the Tigers on Friday night, so he’ll receive his ring Saturday.
“We can go beat him up today and give him the ring tomorrow,” Roberts joked.
The Dodgers gathered behind the mound waiting for everyone to cross the stage and then posed for photos, smiling and admiring the bling on their fingers. A brass band broke into Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
Three more Dodgers legends – Manny Mota, Steve Garvey and Orel Hershiser – completed Friday’s ceremony by throwing out first pitches.
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