Clayton Kershaw deserves a parade. So does Los Angeles.
Let’s do this, shall we?
Four years ago, the Dodgers won the World Series, but a pandemic canceled the parade.
These Dodgers are four wins from a parade, four wins from a civic celebration that would toast the greatest pitcher of our generation and a golden age in the history of a storied franchise, four wins that would let out a chorus of raucous joy from players and fans deprived of a proper party, four wins from more than a million folks getting together for gratification delayed far too long.
“The fans definitely deserve it,” Dodgers owner Mark Walter said Sunday, after the team won the National League pennant.
Standing in the way of a parade: the American League champions, the New York Yankees.
“We didn’t come here to win the pennant,” Walter said. “We came here to win the World Series.”
On the night the Dodgers won the 2020 World Series — as the home team, but playing in a coronavirus bubble in Texas — then-mayor Eric Garcetti told me he intended to organize a celebration — if not a parade, then some sort of socially distanced party. The Lakers had won the NBA championship in the NBA bubble 16 days earlier, and perhaps a joint celebration would be in order.
“I think we were all waiting for the timing, for when it was going to be feasible,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “They were even talking about doing something with the Lakers, doing it together. It would have been amazing. But it just wasn’t to be.”
Kershaw said he never really counted on that celebration, given public health restrictions in the county and state.
“I don’t think we ever thought we were going to get to do that, especially in California,” Kershaw said. “It definitely wasn’t going to happen out here.”
Said infielder Max Muncy: “It was very disappointing we didn’t get that parade, but obviously there were some bigger circumstances happening in the world.”
Kershaw is on the injured list now, but eight of the players on this year’s NLCS roster were on the 2020 World Series roster: Muncy; outfielder Mookie Betts; infielder/outfielders Kiké Hernández and Chris Taylor; catchers Austin Barnes and Will Smith; and pitchers Walker Buehler and Blake Treinen.
The Dodgers won the 2020 championship in a 60-game season that required them to navigate four postseason rounds. A 2024 parade would be the first in Los Angeles in 36 years.
“There is something in it for all of us that have been here,” Roberts said. “We know we won a championship, and it was justified.
“But we do want that parade. That’s another incentive for us.”
Kershaw said he did not believe a parade would be extra special for the players on the 2020 team.
“I think it would be special no matter what,” he said. “Having a parade here would be pretty cool.”
Said Buehler: “It’d be nuts. We haven’t had one in a long time. Obviously, us and the Lakers in ‘20 didn’t get to do it. It’d be big-time.”
Even as they doused each other in champagne and beer Sunday night, the Dodger players were happy to visualize a parade but careful not to count on one. They are not looking past the Yankees.
“We’ve got to win four more games before a parade,” Betts said. “That’s going to be a tough task, with the Yankees.
“This game is hard. It’s hard getting to the World Series. We’ve just got to appreciate being here now, and play some good baseball, and then we can be fortunate enough to have a parade.”
That did not stop Roberts from firing up the crowd Sunday night. Just before he held the NL championship trophy aloft, he hollered a question that needed no answer.
“You guys want a parade in Los Angeles?” Roberts yelled. “Four more wins!”
