Lifestyle
'Every time I wear this, they win': What 22 Dodger fans wore for the World Series
The last time the Dodgers were in the World Series, it was in the thick of the pandemic. So all the games were played at a neutral site in Arlington, Texas, and the capacity was capped at 25% of capacity. The big ‘fit that year was face masks.
Which is to say, Dodger fans weren’t able to show out in their usual way, showcasing a blanket of blue-and-white colors for their boys. This time around, they are getting their chance.
Dressing for a Dodgers game comes down to a simple formula. You have to make sure you’ve got enough blue. “Dodger Blue” is Pantone 294, a vibrant hue that is somewhere between perfect game-day sky blue and Pacific Ocean blue. Go any darker and you start to look like a Brewers fan. Add to that any item or accessory that says “L.A.” or “Dodgers” — “Doyers,” IYKYK.
Beyond that, make sure you’ve got that lucky piece on — if you aren’t wearing that puka shell necklace you wore the first time you sat in the nosebleeds during a midseason win back in 1997, and the Dodgers lose the Series this year? We’re not not saying that’s on you.
Here’s what 22 people wore to watch Game 1. We caught some of them outside Dodger Stadium while they headed to the game, and some at nearby bars.
Oscar Alexander Rodriguez and Angelica Andrade Martinez pose in front of the Fernando Valenzuela memorial at Dodger Stadium before the first World Series game on Friday in Los Angeles.
(Stella Kalinina / For The Times)
Oscar Alexander Rodriguez and Angelica Andrade Martinez
What part of town do you live in?
Oscar: East L.A.
Angelica: I work down the street. We are born and raised. I’m a mail carrier, so I know the Ravine.
What makes this outfit fit for the World Series?
Angelica: You have to wear your Converse. And I always wear my bow. Every time they play and I wear this, they win.
What’s your prediction for the World Series?
Angelica: I hope they win on Fernando Valenzuela’s birthday, which is Nov. 1. Go Dodgers!
Lizette Duenas poses in front of the Fernando Valenzuela memorial at Dodger Stadium before the first World Series game on Friday in Los Angeles.
(Stella Kalinina / For The Times)
Lizette Duenas
Where are you from?
I’m from Sonora. Fernando and me are from the same area. I was born exactly where he was born. I traveled 14 hours just to be here.
Why do you have on a Dodgers cap and Yankees jersey?
I wore both because I want both teams to be friends. Fernando hugs the Yankees, but the Dodgers are in my heart. Fernando said that baseball is just a game and that he wants everyone to be friends.
What’s your prediction for the World Series?
Neither. Both.
Jennifer and Miguel Guerrero pose in front of the Fernando Valenzuela memorial at Dodger Stadium before the first World Series game on Friday in Los Angeles.
(Stella Kalinina / For The Times)
Miguel and Jennifer Guerrero
Where are you from?
Jennifer: I’m from Riverside. During the Freeway Series, my parents are Angels, so I went for the Dodgers.
How long have you been a Dodger fan?
Jennifer: My whole life.
Miguel: Seven years.
Tell me about your husband’s chain.
Jennifer: We got it in Vegas. We got that and a Raiders one for me. He got that tattoo and he became a Dodgers fan because of me. I made him.
Are you wearing anything lucky for the Dodgers?
Jennifer: I’m wearing my old Kiké [Hernández] jersey. Every time I’ve been wearing it, they’ve been winning, so I wore this and not my Ohtani jersey.
Miguel: And I got a lucky Dodgers tattoo.
What’s your prediction for the World Series?
Miguel: Dodgers in 6.
Jennifer: I would say 6.
Andre and Margarita Daniels pose in front of the Fernando Valenzuela memorial at Dodger Stadium before the first World Series game on Friday.
(Stella Kalinina / For The Times)
Andre and Margarita Daniels
Where are you from?
Andre: I’m from L.A. I was raised in Watts. We live in Compton.
Tell me about your outfits.
Andre: She’s amazing. She puts together her own outfits. With me, I just had mine together already. I love my boots. My chain represents the Dodgers. Big Fernando fans as well. I grew up a Dodgers fan, so we’re just here to beat New York and hopefully take the World Series.
Andre and Margarita Daniels show off their Dodger-themed boots in front of the Fernando Valenzuela memorial at Dodger Stadium before the first World Series game on Friday.
(Stella Kalinina / For Los Angeles Times)
Are you wearing anything that is lucky?
Andre: Nothing lucky except my wedding band. [laughs] We’re just out here representing, wearing our colors. We just love being here.
Margarita: Well. Yes. I can’t tell you what it is.
What’s your prediction for the Series?
Margarita: I think that we will win in 4.
Andre: I’m predicting we take it in 6.
Alfonso, Christian and Gael Torres pose in front of the Fernando Valenzuela memorial at Dodger Stadium before the first World Series game on Friday.
(Stella Kalinina / For The Times)
Alfonso, Christian and Gael Torres
Where are you from?
Christian: We’re all from L.A. This is my dad and my brother.
Alfonso: I’ve been a Dodgers fan for 30 years. I was a young boy when Fernandomania happened in 1981.
Are you wearing anything that’s lucky?
Christian: The hat.
Have they won while you wore it?
Christian: No, not yet. Hopefully today they will.
What’s your prediction for the Series?
Christian: I think the Yankees are going to win.
Alfonso: Nooooo. Dodgers in 4.
Edilia Morales poses with her sons Raoul Aguilar, Edwin Aguilar and Allen Aguilar in front of a Dodgers mural on Friday.
(Stella Kalinina / For The Times)
Edilia Morales, Raoul Aguilar, Edwin Aguilar, Allen Aguilar
What part of town do you live in?
Edilia: East L.A.
Are you all big Dodger fans?
All: Yes!
Are you wearing anything lucky?
Edilia: Yes, the shirts.
Raoul: This jacket is a lucky jacket.
What is your prediction for the World Series?
Edilia: Dodgers in 8.
Raoul: Dodgers in 6 or 5.
Colby Wagenbach, left, and at right are Nikki Blizzard and Colby Wagenbach on Friday in Los Angeles.
(Stella Kalinina / For The Times)
Nikki Blizzard and Colby Wagenbach
Where do you live?
Colby: I’m living in Village Green.
Nikki: I’m living in Miracle Mile off La Brea, near the Grove.
Are you both big Dodger fans?
Nikki: I am now. I just moved to L.A. three months ago.
Colby: Lifelong Dodgers fan.
Where are you watching the game?
Colby: We originally were going to watch it at the Short Stop, but I think the crowd will be there after the game, so we’re going to go to the Douglas.
Are you wearing anything that is lucky for the Dodgers to win?
Nikki: I guess these pants are my lucky Dodger pants.
Colby: This shirt and the necklace — I had them both on the last time I went to a playoff game and they won. I wear the necklace every day, so I don’t know if it’s especially lucky.
What is your prediction for the Series?
Colby: Dodgers in 5.
Nikki: What he said.
Amy Farrar and Blair Paley show off their Dodgers style on Frida in Los Angeles.
(Stella Kalinina / For Los Angeles Times)
Amy Farrar and Blair Paley
What part of town are you in?
Amy: I live in Virgil Village.
Blair: I live in Echo Park just down the street.
How long have you been Dodger fans for?
Blair: Since I was born.
Amy: I guess since I moved here. Mostly, I really love the blue color.
Where did you find the hat?
Amy: The Instagram account is @methfountain. It’s this guy in New York that does plays on Birkin bags.
Blair Paley shows off her Dodgers hat on Friday in Los Angeles.
(Stella Kalinina / For The Times)
Are you wearing anything that is lucky for the Dodgers so that they win?
Blair: Not specifically only for the Dodgers. These boots are lucky, but not specifically for the Dodgers.
Amy: I want to believe that this child’s jacket that I found at a thrift store is lucky.
Not for the child. But for the Dodgers.
Amy: (Reads the name written on the tag) Poor Justin.
What’s your prediction for the Series?
Blair: The Dodgers are going to go all the way.
Amy: I think the Yankees are going to win two games.
Ralph Gomez and Kristen Hagen pose in their hot dog and glove costumes on Friday in Los Angeles.
(Stella Kalinina / For The Times)
Ralph Gomez and Kristen Hagen
What part of town do you live in?
Ralph: I’m from L.A., born and raised. I live in Long Beach right now, but I was in Hollywood. I was born and raised in East Los Angeles.
Kristen: I live in Little Tokyo.
Is that why you’re a big Ohtani fan?
Kristen: Pretty much.
Have you been a Dodger fan since you were born?
Ralph: Definitely. Rest in peace Fernando.
Is everybody in your family Dodger fans?
Ralph: Everybody is watching the game right now — my mom and dad.
I have to ask: You’re wearing a Dodger Dog?
Ralph: Yes, I am. Tomorrow I’m going to dress as Elton John.
How did you end up in this glove?
Kristen: I had it because when Ohtani was going to hit his 50th home run, we went to the game and I was going to be out there in the Pavilion trying to catch it, but he ended up hitting it at an away game.
Are you wearing anything that is lucky for the Dodgers to win?
Ralph: We have rally towels. The Short Stop is also the lucky place to watch the game.
Is this a lucky glove outfit?
Kristen: We’re going to find out tonight. Because this is the first time I’m wearing it for the entire game. If they lose, I’m never wearing it again. If they win, it’s staying in the rotation.
What’s your prediction for the Series?
Ralph: We’ll see today. The pitching is the thing that worries me, because the Yankees have a good lineup. If they pull today off, I’ll be feeling good. Dodgers in 7.
Christine Doh and Sean Yoo support opposing teams on Friday in Los Angeles.
(Stella Kalinina / For The Times)
Christine Doh and Sean Yoo
What part of town do you live in?
Christine: I’m in Glendale.
How long have you been a Dodger fan?
Christine: My whole life. Since I was born.
Who’s your favorite player?
Christine: Ohtani, obviously. I love Mookie Betts.
Tell me about the hat?
Christine: It’s a Japanese izakaya restaurant. They’re huge Dodger fans, and they created these hats six months ago. I had to get it.
Christine Doh shows off her unofficial Dodgers hat on Friday in Los Angeles.
(Stella Kalinina / For The Times)
And you’re wearing a Dodger blue shirt.
Christine: Just more repping. And it’s my personal uniform — blue is my favorite color. Navy is actually my favorite color, but that’s a Yankees color.
Why are you a Yankees fan?
Sean: I grew up in Jersey. It was the one team my dad instilled in me when I was growing up. But I’ve been in L.A. now for eight or nine years and I’ve adopted the Dodgers. I live in Echo Park, so it’s hard not to root for the Dodgers. I root for the Dodgers as much as I can except when they’re playing the Yankees.
Are you wearing anything lucky?
Sean: I’ve got a Derek Jeter jersey on. I have this classic Yankees 1943 World Series hat. Nothing super lucky, but stuff that makes me stick out as a Yankee fan.
What’s your prediction for the Series?
Christine: Dodgers are going to take it in 5.
Sean: Yankees in 6.
Students walk on the Stanford University campus on March 14, 2019, in Stanford, Calif.
Ben Margot/AP
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Ben Margot/AP
When Theo Baker arrived at Stanford University a few years ago, he joined the student newspaper, following the path of his journalist parents, Peter Baker, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, and Susan Glasser, a writer for The New Yorker.
Through his reporting as a student journalist, he eventually broke a story about manipulated data in Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne’s neuroscience research that helped lead to the university president’s resignation.
Theo Baker’s book, How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University was released May 19. In it, Baker describes Stanford as a place where proximity to Silicon Valley gives rise to a parallel system of influence, recruitment and money, with investors looking to identify promising students almost as soon as they arrive on campus.
He told Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep there was “a sort of Stanford inside Stanford,” where elite students are drawn into an “alternate reality” of excess and access to cut corners.
In the interview, he discusses how Stanford is not just a university but also a pipeline where status and power can matter as much as ideas.
We reached out to Stanford University for comment and have not heard back.
Listen to the interview by clicking play on the blue box above.
The scoreboard shows the results of the women’s singles final match between Iga Swiatek of Poland and Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
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Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
Fifteen points in tennis? Nice. Thirty, 40 — even better. Advantage — that sounds good. “Love” — that also must be great, right? Well, not quite.
As the French Open rolls on and Serena Williams has announced her return to the sport, maybe you’ve been paying a little more attention to tennis. The sport’s scoring system is notably distinct, and can sometimes be hard to grasp for newcomers. But even tennis aficionados might not know why, or how, “love” became the unmistakable callout for zero points. For this installment of NPR’s Word of the Week, we’re exploring how a word that signifies trailing behind got such a sweet name.
“Love” comes from the heart — or an egg?
It’s hard to pinpoint when the first tennis ball went over the net. Tennis is a derivative of lots of other sports, such as “jeu de paume,” a handball game played in France, said JT Buzanga, the collections manager at the International Tennis Hall of Fame museum.
But tennis became a patented, official sport in 1874, said Steve Flink, a journalist whose tennis coverage got him inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It has retained its unique, mysterious scoring system ever since.
“By and large, the original system has held up almost entirely,” Flink said.
The use of “love” goes back to the late 18th century, said Jesse Sheidlower, a lexicographer. But it was used earlier than that in card games such as whist and bridge. Before the term made its way to tennis, the sport favored plain old “nothing,” or “nil,” he said.
Why love in the first place, though? Historians don’t really know for sure, but there are a few theories.
The French could have something to do with it. Some historians believe “love” derives from “l’oeuf,” which means “the egg” in French. Because eggs are shaped like zeros, terms such as “goose egg” and “duck’s egg” have been used in other contexts to mean zero, Sheidlower said.
It’s also possible English speakers mispronounced l’oeuf as “love.” But Sheidlower isn’t convinced that’s the answer.
“It’s the French equivalent of an English expression. But since that expression doesn’t appear in French, the French word wouldn’t have been used,” he said.
To be sure, France has had a lot of influence on tennis culture, Buzanga said. For example, “deuce” or a game tied at 40 points, comes from the French word for “two”: “deux.” But he prefers another prominent theory: that “love” comes from the idiom “for the love of the game.” Even if a player hasn’t scored, it doesn’t matter, because their heart is in it. It’s the theory Sheidlower said is the most plausible, because the idiom was used by the English before tennis was popularized.
Another variation of the “love of the game” theory is that the word could have come from the Dutch “lof,” or “honor” — or the Latin “amare,” meaning “to love,” Flink said.
But if tennis’ “love” doesn’t come from a French word, the theory at least has a French sensibility.
“I think the ‘for the love of the game’ is kind of romantic,” Buzanga said.
“Love” probably isn’t going anywhere
Tennis used to be a sport of leisure. The style of play has changed a lot over the years; players are more athletic and competitive, for instance, Flink said. But the rules of the sport are more steadfast, he said.
“There’s this incredible, enduring respect for tradition in tennis,” he said. “Changes are not made easily.”
There has been one major change in modern history: the tie-break. Matches can go on and on because players have to score two consecutive points to break a deuce, or by two games to break a tied set. But the onset of television meant matches would have to get shorter if the sport wanted to capture a larger audience, Flink said.
Change even came for “love.” An alternative sprouted up in the 1970s, and is still used today: “bagel,” named for its zero shape, Sheidlower said. Novices may say “zero,” and insiders will understand what they mean, but they “will needle them about it,” Flink said.
But “love” still prevails.
“People kind of like it,” Flink said. “It’s different. Why say zero when you can say love?”
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