LOS ANGELES — As champagne and beer sloshed under sneakers, music blared over speakers and cigar smoke permeated the air, Kiké Hernández stood in the center of it all — shirtless, of course.
The Dodgers’ batting cages (in lieu of a recently renovated home clubhouse) had once again been tarped, covered and transformed into the hottest party spot in Los Angeles. As his teammates hollered in anticipation, Hernández grabbed another bottle of champagne, pressed it against his torso for grip and yanked it open.
His newly minted National League Champion hat was donned backward, and his hair was drenched with bubbles and Budweiser — a combination synonymous with victorious sports clubhouses. His bottle was hardly empty before he reached over and grabbed a new one, tucking it firmly into the waistband of his Dodger-blue shorts before joining another mini champagne shower that had broken out, this one started by starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow. He made sure no teammate was left dry.
A playoff clincher is not a scenario unknown to Hernández, a 12-year MLB veteran and one of the most respected figures in the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse. He has been here before, a league champion and four wins from a World Series. He knows nothing burns sweeter than the spray of champagne.
He also knows that, for as much as the Dodgers have accomplished this season, the job is far from finished.
“This is going to be my fifth (World Series), and I was on the wrong end of two,” Hernández said. “And when you’re on the wrong end of these series, especially when you get all the way to the end, it’s not a good feeling. I remember what it felt like when we got there, and then we lost, so after losing two, you get to the point where you’re like, ‘All right, I’m not necessarily complacent or happy yet, till we do what we’re trying to do.’
“The goal is not to play in the World Series. The goal is to win it,” Hernández added. “And we’ve been talking about, since day one, that if we don’t win the World Series, this season is a failure. We have to win four more games before we lose four, then we accomplish something pretty special.”
Backed by one of the most spectacular individual performances in postseason history — a three-home run night and six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts from (who else but) Shohei Ohtani — the Los Angeles Dodgers are World Series-bound once more. They completed the four-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night, winning 5-1, to lock up their second consecutive National League pennant and put them one series win shy of becoming the first team to win back-to-back World Series in 25 years.
SHOHEI OHTANI, YOU ARE INCREDIBLE! pic.twitter.com/jythqTWUI4
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 18, 2025
For most teams, a league championship is a rarity. In some cases, it’s even historic. But for the Dodgers, not so much. It’s simply another checkpoint in a year drawn up to end with a parade. Despite a trying regular season, a first half decimated by pitching injuries and an inability to secure a first-round bye, the Dodgers are back where everyone assumed they’d be.
Each corner of Friday’s celebration featured a different conversation. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman spoke about the differences between last year’s National League championship team and this year’s, elaborating on a starting rotation that simply dominated its opponents.
“We talk about this a lot,” Friedman said. “There’s just a lot of different ways to win a World Series. Last year, we did it in a very different way than we have so far this year. We had a dominant bullpen. Our starters weren’t as accomplished as this group. But our lineup filled in the gap. We had a really good team last year. We’re just doing it a slightly different way.”
Shortstop Mookie Betts discussed the opportunity to be the first team to repeat as World Series champions since the New York Yankees pulled off a three-peat from 1998 to 2000.
“That’s something that I think we’ll all take pride in because it hasn’t been done in so long. It’s hard. It’s hard to win. To do it two times in a row, that’s something super special.
“This is what we play for. We play to win our last game in October,” Betts added. “We’ve got a chance to do it.”
“Every year in spring training, every team probably has a similar speech: We’re here to work. Our goal is to win the World Series,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “The reality of it is, there’s only a couple of teams where that’s the truth. With us, that’s the truth every single year. Our goal is to win the World Series. That’s what we expect.”
And of course, players and personnel throughout the organization marveled over the latest Ohtani masterpiece.
“He keeps exceeding expectations, no matter how high we set those expectations,” team president Stan Kasten said. “When the starting pitcher strikes out the side and then goes and hits a home run, you think, ‘Whoa. This is something special.’”
“I don’t think there are any words you can say that describe what he just did,” right fielder Teoscar Hernández said.
“He pulled the ultimate unicorn move tonight,” Kiké Hernández added.
The World Series is scheduled to start Friday. The Dodgers will have six full rest days. Their opponent, either the Seattle Mariners or Toronto Blue Jays, and home-field advantage have not yet been decided.
Another World Series win would all but cement the Dodgers’ budding dynasty. They have made 13 straight postseasons. They have won it all twice in the last four years. They have stacked their lineups with the most premium talent available, both domestic and international. They are known outside of Los Angeles as baseball’s evil empire, a billion-dollar juggernaut, spoilers of the sport. As long as their season ends with another trophy, they are just fine with that.
“They said the Dodgers were ruining baseball,” manager Dave Roberts said with a grin, shortly after he was presented with the National League Championship trophy. “Let’s get four more wins and really ruin baseball.”
Four more wins and another World Series title. That was always the plan for Los Angeles this year.
That, and more champagne.
