Chapter 88

The parade through downtown Los Angeles started at the Staples Center and continued along Figueroa Street for more than a mile before veering off to end at Dodgers Stadium where 56,000 fans waited the team's arrival. The streets were lined with fans, in some places 10 deep on the sidewalks.

Brock stood beside Zack on the roof of a double-decker bus that was usually used for driving tourists past the homes of the stars they saw on TV and in the movies. Brock's left arm was in a sling from a strained ligament in his elbow that was another reminder of the catch he made in the 12th inning. The players smiled and waved to the fans during the slow procession. Several took pictures as the team rode by.

Many of the players' children joined the team atop the bus and enjoyed the attention they received from the players, who took turns lifting the younger children up so they could see the people along the road and wave to them.

When they arrived at the stadium, the team made its way through the lower level to come out through the clubhouse and the dugout onto the field. There was a podium set up in short center field. Rather than play to the expensive seats behind home plate and along the baselines, the team owner had insisted it face the cheap seats, although no seat for the event could be considered inexpensive.

The families of the players were allowed on the field and they formed a semi-circle around the players. The crowd erupted as soon as Jim LaCross and Al Perez led the players out to the field. Al had the Commissioner's Trophy hoisted over his head as the players made a quick lap around the stadium.

Unlike a year before, they didn't slap hands with the fans. They kept their distance but no one seemed to mind. The fans continued to take pictures and shoot video as the players passed by. When the lap was ended, they headed out to center field where Millicent Swanson, Victor Turturro and Julie Archer stood waiting, beaming proudly.

Millicent was the first to address the crowd, followed by Victor and Julie. They kept their remarks short, thanking the fans for their patience and their support over 25 fruitless years. After Jim LaCross made his speech, he turned it over to the players.

One by one, the members of the team stepped forward to deliver their comments. Some, such as Fred's, were heartfelt. He spoke of his uncertainty before the season of being able to find a job and wondered if his life in baseball was over.

Others were more upbeat. Udo and Cesar cracked jokes at their teammates and even the team's interim general manager.

Al was the next to last to step to the podium. He told the fans of the frustration he felt during many of the previous 10 years that he couldn't deliver what the fans deserved – a championship. He told the crowd why this team was different from those that came before, heaping praise on Millicent Swanson, Victor Turturro and even Steve Morris as being the architects that had built a winning team.

Brock was the last to speak because he was selected as the outstanding player of the World Series.

He stepped to the podium as the chants of "M-V-P" rang through the crowd. Brock waved his good arm toward center field and then to the rest of the stadium.

"When I first found out I was traded to Los Angeles, I was a little disappointed," he said into the microphone. "I left California for a reason – a reason that most of you know about. I've lived a lot of places since I left California more than seven years ago – Durham and Zebulon, North Carolina; Lake County and Akron, Ohio; Buffalo, New York.

"Each time I moved somewhere new, I looked for the same thing – the thing I'd been missing since I was dragged from my home when I was 14 years old. I was looking for a place where I could be comfortable, a place where people would accept me for who I am. I came close once or twice but I never found it – until I was traded to a place that I thought I would hate. I've found it here. I've found the place I belong. I've found a family, professionally with my teammates and the fans and personally with my fiancée and my friends.

"I'm grateful to my family and friends. You've seen me at my worst and stood beside me even when you probably didn't want to. I haven't always taken the time to express the love and admiration that I have for each of you. I hope you've known how much you've meant to me all these years. In case you don't, I'll tell you now. I love each and every one of you."

"To the greatest fans in the world, I say thank you. Thank you for your support over the last two years. Thank you for supporting this team in the past. Thank you for giving me a place to call my own. We might be the ones who get to carry it around but this trophy belongs to the people who sat in the stands, through bad times and now through good. This trophy belongs to you.

"Thank you!"

The confetti was still littering the Los Angeles streets following the team's victory parade and Julie Archer was sitting at her desk staring at her computer.

Major League free agency opened at the end of the World Series and 57 players filed before noon the next day. The Dodgers had seven players who were eligible – five pitchers and their middle infielders, Fred Hartman (who had ended his one-year deal with the team) and Matt Driesbach (whose five-year contract originally signed with Seattle had come to a close).

In addition, the team faced arbitration with four players – Udo Jergens, who could expect a substantial raise given his performance the season before, Danys Sanchez, Carlos DeLeon and Brock Miller. Julie wanted to avoid arbitration at all costs. She had done the hearings for three years and she hated the system. It was bad for both sides and both sides came out of it thinking worse of the other.

Under the system, the team and the player each set a number for the player's salary in the upcoming season. Invariably, the team's was lower. Sometimes it was only a matter of a few hundred thousand dollars; other times there was several million dollars difference between what the player thought he was worth and what the team wanted to pay him.

She feared it would be the case this time, too. Udo Jergens had made the Major League minimum the season before. His contract was renewed in the offseason before he became the team's most reliable pitcher. The team would offer $1 million but she suspected Udo, represented by one of the hard-line agents who permeated the business, would ask for at least $5 million. Then the team would have to tear down its player in front of an arbiter to justify its position. The player would have to present facts that his numbers were comparable to other player's making more money. It was a stat geek's paradise and a general manager's nightmare.

Brock Miller would pose another problem, thanks to Steve Morris. If Morris had signed off on a long-term deal, Brock's salary the following season would be a reasonable $2.3 million. But the fact the team went on a 22-3 run after his return from the disabled list, coupled with the fact he belted 29 homers despite missing 68 games, would mean an arbiter might set the number at three times that amount.

That would play hell with Julie's budget – assuming it was still Julie in charge of the budget when the next season rolled around.

Fred Hartman would also expect a significant raise. As the season wound down, Julie had approached Hartman's agent about a new deal. She had offered $900,000 a season for two seasons. The agent had countered with a four-year, $10 million offer with a starting base of $1.7 million.

Armando Guerra would be a free agent, too, but the team expected to be able to resign him to a reasonable deal – if his health permitted a return to baseball. He had not returned to the United States for a physical since his January shooting and all Julie had to go on were reports from Guerra's agent, which couldn't be trusted without verification.

Eddie Cruz had been among the first to file for free agency, waiting until one minute past the midnight opening to send his paperwork to the Commissioner's Office. That was expected, given the fact he had been left off the postseason roster. Still, Julie would like to have him back as an insurance policy. If Julie could put together a wish list for the following season, the roster would look remarkably as it had at the end of the year – with Joaquin Betancourt and Erik Teeter back to lead the rotation.

The payroll budget wasn't set in stone but Julie knew she couldn't push it much past the $115 million the team paid this year. Still, she also couldn't dismantle the team. Al Perez, Betancourt, Wade Watson, Josh Hart, Cesar Davis, John Milton and Teeter would make almost $100 million the following season in combined salary.