Let's Go Dodgers!

Alissa Luna • January 1 , 2026

Ever since the weekend of Nov. 1, the Southern California area has erupted in celebration over the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the 2025 World Series. After prevailing in three out of the seven nerve-wracking games, the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays for the fourth time on Saturday night. Dodgers fans from all over the world were ecstatic for the ninth World Series victory for the Dodgers. That weekend, any person walking in the SoCal area could see at least one person wearing a Dodgers baseball cap or a jersey with their favorite player’s number. Neighborhoods and restaurants turned into celebratory parties over the victory as well. Peninsula students and staff are among these fans. But it seems that no matter how different every fan is, everyone is blissfully united under the victory of the Dodgers.

This year’s World Series games have been some of the longest in history. The record for the longest game ever recorded was in 2018, a game between the Boston Red Sox and the LA Dodgers. It lasted for eighteen innings and timed in at seven hours and 20 minutes (CBS Sports). This was more than extremely unusual. A typical MLB game consists of nine innings, and usually lasts around two and a half hours. This run time has never been close to being beaten until the extremely long game on Oct. 27th. The third 2025 World Series game contained 18 innings, lasted six hours and 39 minutes and ended in the Dodgers' victory of 6-5. Some fans came to either school or work the next day groggy for this reason. Sophomore Chelsea Rhoades shared her own experience during the night of the game.

“[The game] was extremely long. I was watching it while eating with my friends at Chili’s,”Rhoades said. “Let’s just say that [the] whole restaurant was really loud. I didn’t get to stay for the whole game, but from what I saw, it was pretty good. I watched at least until the 15th [inning], but then I was really tired. I tried listening to the game, but I fell asleep because it was so late.”

Many fans of either the Blue Jays or the Dodgers saw the matchup as fairly equal. Most of the games in the 2025 World Series had relatively close scores, and the final game ended with a score of 5-4 (MLB Scores). However, the Blue Jays had much higher winning scores compared to the Dodgers. The final scores in the games where the Blue Jays won were very far apart. In the first game, the Blue Jays beat the Dodgers 11-4. The Blue Jays had also won the fourth and fifth games with high winning scores. Based on these victories from the Blue Jays, it became very reasonable to conclude that the team would win the World Series. Sophomore Gavin Manuel shared his own thoughts about the odds of the Blue Jays winning the World Series.

“Well, I thought we had our odds,” Manuel said. “The Blue Jays have incredible offense, [and] a very good defense. That first [victory] for the Blue Jays was kind of expected. The matchup was pretty even. But, in the end, I think where it really was [important] was pitching.”

What Manuel articulated resonates with the opinions of many other fans. Who would be pitching during the games was a very vital point in the World Series. This was especially evident with Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who gave an outstanding performance that earned him the title of Most Valuable Player for the 2025 World Series. He was in as the reliever pitcher for the final game. A reliever stands in for the main pitcher when they are exhausted, in bad shape or simply replaced as a strategic move. Yamamoto then got two outs to secure the winning title for the Dodgers. His role as main pitcher and reliever led to some of the Dodgers’ previous victories in the World Series.

After some exciting victories, tragic losses and long games, it all came down to Saturday night, Nov 1. In the 11th inning, Dodgers catcher Will Smith hit a homerun, scoring a point for the Dodgers. After one final hit by Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk, the Dodgers successfully managed to get two outs on first and second base. Those last few moments made the victor clear. Both players and fans were cheering and hugging each other, ecstatic over the triumph. The celebration in person quickly carried over to online. All over social media, fans were posting videos about their personal celebrations. Junior Graziella Saccomanno shared her own experience on the night the Dodgers won the World Series.

“I was at home when the Dodgers won,” Saccomanno said. “I live in [San] Pedro, so there [were] a whole bunch of fireworks that were going off, [and] I got to watch them from my balcony. I got to celebrate the World Series by going to the parade on Monday in Downtown LA, [which] was a cool experience, and [I will] definitely do it again next year when they win the World Series.”

This early November has been celebratory for the Dodgers and their fans, who hope to see more victories in the future and already anticipate many more World Series wins. For Dodgers fans at Peninsula, it is within their best wishes and hopes for the Dodgers to win another World Series in the future.