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LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s a new season but the Los Angeles Dodgers are still celebrating their 2024 World Series championship.
Rapper Ice Cube rolled up to their dugout in a vintage blue convertible with the Commissioner’s Trophy in the front passenger seat. Magic Johnson carried the prize to home plate as the announced crowd of 53,595 roared Thursday before the Dodgers’ home opener against the Detroit Tigers.
The Dodgers won 5-4, with Teoscar Hernández hitting a three-run homer and Shohei Ohtani adding a solo shot.
“It's always great here, especially in front of the fans,” Hernández said.
Players and staff will receive their World Series rings prior to Friday's game.
Los Angeles began the season in Tokyo this month with a pair of wins over the Chicago Cubs.
Thursday was all about honoring the Dodgers' victory over the New York Yankees for the eighth World Series championship in franchise history and second since the pandemic-delayed 2020 season.
“I thought the ceremony was fantastic,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The fans were really into it.”
Kirk Gibson came out to throw the first pitch to World Series MVP Freddie Freeman. A hobbled Gibson belted a pinch-hit, walk-off homer in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series against Oakland to earn a place in Dodgers lore.
Freeman's walk-off grand slam in Game 1 against the Yankees echoed Gibson's heroics. Freeman came on the field with his wife, three sons, father and stepmother as fans chanted “Freddie! Freddie!”
“Gibby meet Freddie,” Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis said in a reversal of his Game 1 call last year when he said, “Freddie meet Gibby” after Freeman’s drive.
Earlier, Mark Walter, Billie Jean King, Ilana Kloss, Todd Boehly and Johnson represented Dodgers ownership in hoisting a blue-and-white World Series flag in center field.
In right field, a baseball with 2024 in blue lettering was unveiled by captains from the Los Angeles and Pasadena fire departments, joining the others marking the franchise's World Series titles.
The newest champions wore jerseys with Dodgers in gold script on the front and their names and numbers in gold on the back.
“We nailed it,” Roberts said.
Led by Ohtani, players in the starting lineup jogged down a blue carpet from center field to the infield with blue smoke and white fireworks going off.
The Tigers sat in their dugout watching while Detroit starter Tarik Skubal warmed up in right field near the blue carpet. Ohtani briefly acknowledged him as the Japanese superstar jogged by.
Two F-15C aircraft from Fresno, California, and two F-35A Lightning II fighter jets from Arizona roared overhead after Josh Groban sang the national anthem.
A video of last season's triumph played after a video of the World Series trophy visiting NFL and NBA games in Los Angeles and its trip to Tokyo.
Dodgers utilityman Kiké Hernández stayed home because of illness. He's expected to be back Friday, although he won't be in the starting lineup.
“My hope is that he'll be here ready to come off the bench,” Roberts said.
Mookie Betts started at shortstop after missing time the last couple of weeks with an illness that caused him to lose 18 pounds.
“After the game he looked like he wasn't fatigued, which is a good thing,” Roberts said. “My expectation is that he'll be back in there tomorrow.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
