The Dodgers win the World Series! LA takes to the streets with fireworks, excitement

Ecstatic fans took to the streets of Los Angeles in a celebratory show Wednesday night after the Dodgers won their eighth World Series title.

They became the first Major League Baseball team to win a World Series-clinching game when they trailed by five runs, coming back to defeat the New York Yankees 7-6 in Game 5.

Fans filled the streets near LA Live in downtown Los Angeles and Whittier Boulevard in East LA, dancing, setting off fireworks and singing. Neighbors banged pots and pans on their porches as firecrackers, fireworks and sirens went off in Highland Park. And in Little Tokyo, fans gathered around the Shohei Ohtani mural to celebrate the beloved player who this year became the first in history to hit 50 home runs and 50 bases in a season.

The Los Angeles Police Department reported that several stores near 8th Street and Broadway appeared to have been broken into, but no details were available. There are widespread reports of vandalism in the area.

Fireworks displays across the city equaled the Fourth of July, while Los Angeles City Hall and the “D” on the Hollywood sign were lit up Dodger blue to celebrate the win.

Authorities have closed off some streets in East LA and downtown in hopes of preventing some of the wilder celebrations that occur when the Dodgers win in 2020.

However, the power of the fans could not be lost.

In East Los Angeles, the fireworks started going off when Walker Buehler hit Alex Verdugo to win the series. People came out of their homes and headed toward Whittier Boulevard, the Eastside's historic corridor.

In their locker room at Yankee Stadium, the Dodgers players celebrate their World Series title.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“This is unbelievable!” shouted Boyle Heights resident Jessica Gutierrez, 33. “We've been waiting for you for so long, and you should be with all your fellow Dodger fans.”

The LA County Sheriff's Department and the California Highway Patrol had blockades at the intersection of Whittier and Atlantic streets in an attempt to stop the cruise, but to no avail – the cars just made a U-turn on Hillview Avenue.

Along Hoefner Avenue in front of the Commerce Center, fans stopped in the middle of Whittier Boulevard to film the passing parade. Even though it was crowded for full spinouts, cars still spun tires and burned rubber, much to the delight of the crowds.

“Oh, my God, that was the worst show I've ever seen,” one fan told KCAL News at a watch party in downtown LA “We're back on top after 2020, and we finally got our show!”

The Dodgers' show scheduled for Friday will be the first in 36 years, after a hoped-for 2020 public celebration was disrupted by the COVID-19 shutdown.

“Tonight, we showed the world that Los Angeles is made of CHAMPIONS,” LA Mayor Karen Bass wrote in a statement to X. “Congratulations to the Dodgers on their win tonight. I look forward to seeing you back in LA!”

After falling behind 5-0 after three innings Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, the team surprisingly staged a five-run comeback in the fifth. After going back and forth again, they met again in the eighth.

“It was strange! I was nervous, but we kept our faith, and luckily things went well for us,” one fan told KCAL News at the viewing event in Pasadena. “I'm happy and I'm happy that we won.”

Excited fans gather at Tom's Watch Bar at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday night.

(Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times)

City News Service contributed to this article