The Dodgers 2024 World Series parade takes place on Friday

After 36 years, the Dodgers have a date for a world championship parade: It’s Friday.

The Dodgers last played Los Angeles in 1988. The Dodgers won the World Series championship in 2020, but public health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic prevented a parade at the time.

On Wednesday, the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees 7-6 to win their second championship in five seasons. This time they will enjoy a parade without the frustration of spending a month in a postseason bubble and without the opportunity to share a celebration with their fans.

They’ll also be happy to hear criticism that the 2020 championship was somehow less legitimate because the pandemic-shortened season featured 60 games instead of 162.

“I think it bothers everyone,” infielder Gavin Lux said Tuesday. “We were all in the same situation and still won this year. We were all in the same boat doing the same thing. I personally don’t think that’s the right narrative, but I think it’s a little annoying to everyone that you don’t get the recognition you deserve.

“If anything, I think it was probably harder to win this year. However, they want the entire first season just to get the whole narrative out the window.”

In 1988, the Dodgers marched north along Broadway to a rally at City Hall. The city was expecting such a rush of fans there, The Times reportedthat “workers painted large white numbers on the trees on the City Hall lawn so that officers could be quickly dispatched to the appropriate location if fans fell to the ground.”

The Dodgers spoke from a podium, the trophy sitting on a nearby table for all fans to see.

Manager Tommy Lasorda, dressed in a coat and tie, shouted to the crowds: “Every game, when we came into the clubhouse, our motto was, ‘How sweet it is to taste the fruits of victory!’ ”

Lasorda called for Kirk Gibson, who hit it A 1988 home run that lives foreversit with him on the podium.

Roaring Lasorda: “Give it to me! What is our theme at the end of each game? Say it again! Say it again!”

Gibson, dressed in a white Dodgers T-shirt, relented. He stood up from his seat, strolled to the microphone and shouted, “How sweet this is!” The fruits of victory!”

And then Lasorda danced.