{"id":254014,"date":"2026-04-06T12:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T12:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/254014\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T12:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T12:54:13","slug":"how-dodgers-spent-the-first-few-hours-after-winning-the-world-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/254014\/","title":{"rendered":"How Dodgers spent the first few hours after winning the World Series"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TORONTO\u00a0\u2014\u00a0What do you remember most about the epic, riveting, thrill-a-minute Game 7<\/a>?<\/p>\n

The home run<\/a>? Which one<\/a>?<\/p>\n

That crazy play at the plate? The rubber-armed starter-turned-closer<\/a>? The last out?<\/p>\n

So many moments, so many stories that will be told and retold among this generation of Dodgers<\/a> fans and passed down to the next.<\/p>\n

As the Dodgers return to Toronto on Monday, for the first time since conquering the Blue Jays to capture the World Series championship, I wanted to look back with a peek at the official World Series documentary.<\/p>\n

Not so fast. Major League Baseball did commission a documentary, as it always does<\/a>, but the film was not ready for release by the time spring training started. The series was so dramatic that the league is looking into options for a high-profile rollout, probably around midseason.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers did their part, with a creative bobblehead series<\/a> of Game 7 moments: Max Muncy<\/a>\u2019s home run in the eighth inning, Miguel Rojas<\/a>\u2019 tying home run in the ninth inning, Will Smith<\/a>\u2019s game-winning home run in the 11th inning, Mookie Betts<\/a> turning the game-ending double play, and a Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/a> \u201clast out\u201d image.<\/p>\n

Collect all five, though, and you still don\u2019t get the behind-the-scenes access that a documentary does. So why not ask the Dodgers themselves to take you behind the scenes in those wild hours between their departure from Rogers Centre as champions and their arrival in Los Angeles the following day?<\/p>\n

Actually, by the time the Dodgers left the stadium, it was already the following day. Game 7 did not end until 17 minutes past midnight. The Dodgers gathered on the field to collect their championship trophy, retreated to the clubhouse to douse themselves in champagne and beer, returned to the field to share the moment with their families, then went back inside to shower and dress.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time you get done celebrating, there is nowhere that is still open,\u201d Muncy said. \u201cSo we had a little spot downstairs at the hotel. We had a little party down there.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was past 2 a.m. by the time most of the players and their families joined the party in a hotel ballroom to share food, drink, and joy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really cool to embrace all the families, see all the excitement,\u201d Rojas said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was unbelievable that you got to bring the trophy back to the hotel. That\u2019s what I remember: taking those moments and enjoying them with the people that I really care about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freddie Freeman<\/a> said he was one of the first to leave the party. He and his family stayed about an hour and a half, and by then his kids were so tired that it was time for bed.<\/p>\n

\" <\/p>\n

The Dodgers\u2019 Shohei Ohtani holds the World Series trophy with teammates after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 of the World Series at Rogers Centre.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Rojas said he hung out at the party until around 5 a.m. He did not sleep that night.<\/p>\n

Was there any sleep to be had for Muncy that night?<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point, there was,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t remember it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dodgers pushed back their flights to noon, manager Dave Roberts<\/a> said. The Dodgers travel in two groups: one for families, coaches, and team staffers; the other for the players.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what they were doing,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI was sleeping.\u201d<\/p>\n

They were singing.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite part was the bus ride going to the plane,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cMusic blaring. Everyone is singing on the bus.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiguel is on the mic. Every song he played, he seemed to know the words, or he made up words.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Rojas to get up and sing on the team bus, well, nothing new there. What was new that morning was one song in his repertoire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this song they were playing at the stadium in the seventh inning \u2014 I think it goes, \u2018Oh yay, Blue Jays,\u2019 something like that,\u201d Rojas said. (It\u2019s called \u201cOK, Blue Jays.\u201d<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I was just singing the song and getting the guys going. I didn\u2019t plan it. I was just happy and letting myself go, as I always do on the mic. And the guys enjoy it. I do my part on the bus every time, and it\u2019s like a performance. Every time I go up there, I feel like I\u2019m Kevin Hart.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point, we were on a plane,\u201d Muncy said. \u201cI don\u2019t remember the timing of any of that. I just know that it was all a lot of fun. Traveling isn\u2019t always something that is fun, but in that scenario, it was something that everyone really enjoyed.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re passing the trophy around. You\u2019re getting pictures taken. You\u2019re playing \u2018We Are the Champions\u2019 on repeat for hours, not getting tired of it at all. It\u2019s a really good time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The planes landed. The players reunited with their families. It was time to go home.<\/p>\n

But reflection on those few hours of celebration \u2014 that wild scramble to enjoy the moment, yet hurry to get everyone ready to go home \u2014 left the Dodgers envisioning one of the few things this contemporary dynasty has yet to accomplish.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to win at home,\u201d Muncy said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t done that yet. It would be ideal to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO\u00a0\u2014\u00a0What do you remember most about the epic, riveting, thrill-a-minute Game 7? The home run? Which one? That…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[112684,112685,426,1431,9831,9251,6199,48,52,51,112681,47,50,49,11421,4123,1459,24631,10390,112682,112683],"class_list":{"0":"post-254014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-bus-ride","9":"tag-championship-trophy","10":"tag-dodgers","11":"tag-family","12":"tag-first-time","13":"tag-home-run","14":"tag-hotel","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-la-headlines","17":"tag-la-news","18":"tag-little-party","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","21":"tag-los-angeles-news","22":"tag-many-moment","23":"tag-max-muncy","24":"tag-part","25":"tag-rojas","26":"tag-song","27":"tag-thrill-a-minute-game","28":"tag-wild-hour"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}