[dropcap size=big]A[/dropcap]s they do every time there is a major win for the Lakers, Dodgers, or Mexico in the World Cup, committed sports fans around East Los Angeles communities gathered in East L.A. to celebrate their team. With Whittier Boulevard blocked off to vehicles from Eastern Avenue to Gerhart Street in the City of Commerce, East L.A.'s main drag became an impromptu boardwalk full of ecstatic Dodger fans.
Fans instead took to Olympic Boulevard to celebrate with their vehicles, ATVs, and mini bikes, with many cruising and doing donuts on the Whittier Boulevard-adjacent thoroughfare. The intersection of Atlantic and Olympic Boulevards was one of the most active in the neighborhood, complete with an all-women live banda group named Banda Las Angelinas.
The win resonated deeply with East L.A.'s historically Mexican American-rooted community after pitcher Julio Urías, from Sinaloa, was responsible for the game-winning final strike against the Tampa Bay Rays. Before him, Victor González, from Nayarit, also supported the Dodgers in their first World Series win since 1988.
The festivities began as soon as the game was over and lasted until midnight. The LA Times is reporting that the Sheriffs made at least nine arrests throughout the night.
