Dodgers opening series comes with pomp and circumstance
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 26: Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas (72) and first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) hold onto the 2024 and 2025 World Series Commissioner's trophies as they drive along the outfield warning track before the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, March 26, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) LOS ANGELES — Part of winning the World Series, let alone two in a row, is that you get two days’ worth of pregame ceremonies to open the season. It’s not exactly the routine baseball players are used to, but this might be a nearly literal case of what Dodgers manager Dave Roberts likes to call champagne problems.
Opening day ceremonies included introducing the entire team, with the players entering on a blue carpet from center field. Two members of the starting lineup — Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas — were conspicuously absent when their names were called, but they were part of a planned skit with actor Will Ferrell. A overly long video played on the scoreboards at Dodger Stadium with Ferrell taking a stadium tour, with the lone saving grace team historian Mark Langill doing yeomen’s work as a tour guide in the piece.
The video ends with Ferrell finding the championship trophies from 2024 and 2025, with Freeman and Rojas finding him. A special introduction for the Champs. 👀 pic.
twitter. com/j5BnLjnC4S — Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 27, 2026 After the video, Ferrell drove a blue convertible onto the field at Dodger Stadium, with Freeman and Rojas each holding a trophy to complete the production. In all, the festivities, which included raising the championship banner and 2025 World Series emblem at the stadium, took 45 minutes before starting on time at 5:30 p.
m. PT. The Dodgers will have another ceremony on Friday to deliver all the championship rings .