Before O’Shea Jackson became Ice Cube, he was just a kid growing up in South Central LA, adoring the Los Angeles Dodgers as all his peers did. It was the 1970s, and the Dodgers were perennial World Series contenders, but they couldn’t get over the hump.
They dropped consecutive World Series to the New York Yankees in 1977 and 1978. But three years later, they got their revenge and beat the Yankees in 1981. Ice Cube remembers those years vividly — how Yankees’ slugger Reggie Jackson’s home runs “broke his heart”, and the joy he experienced when the Dodgers finally got the best of the Yankees.
So he was elated when, 33 years later the Dodgers and Yankees met again in the 2024 Fall Classic.
“Here we go again,” Ice Cube said, while appearing on the fourth episode of Keyshawn Johnson’s limited series “LA Legends,” “The two most iconic teams playing in the World Series.”
Ice Cube, simply, was just excited to be a fan, and rekindle his inner-child by rooting for the Dodgers to beat the Yankees like he did in 1981.
“I never knew I was going to be a part of it at all,” he said.
But then the phone rang, and the Dodgers asked him if he wanted to bring the team out before Game 1 at Dodger Stadium.
His response: “I was like, ‘Man, that’s a dream come true.'”
Ice Cube’s appearance was delayed to Game 2 after the Dodgers honored legendary pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who passed away three days prior to the start of the World Series, ahead of Game 1.
Ice Cube said he was happy help out the Dodgers whenever it was convenient for them. When the opportunity came to do it before Game 2, Ice Cube came out in front of the right field fence at Dodger Stadium, in his retro Dodgers jacket, and strutted toward the infield performing “It Was a Good Day.”
As Ice Cube sang, the Dodgers’ players bobbed to the music in the dugout. Manager Dave Roberts was seen singing along to the song. Ice Cube emphasized the performance by screaming “It’s time for Dodgers’ baseball”, while standing in the batter’s box, then swinging the microphone like a baseball bat, before dropping it on the plate and walking away. The performance got the Dodgers in the zone, as they followed it with a dazzling one of their own, beating the Yankees 4-2 in Game 2 to take a 2-0 series lead.
Ice Cube’s involvement was so successful that, after the Dodgers won the World Series, they asked him back to perform at the championship parade.
This time, he came out in a Dodgers’ jersey with the No. 24 on the back to honor the late Kobe Bryant. As he was performing, a special guest joined him on the field, catching Ice Cube by surprise.
“I felt something bump against me and I looked back, and I’m thinking ‘Damn, some groundskeeping dude got too excited and jumped up here,’ and then I looked, and I’m like, ‘Damn, that’s the skipper, that’s the coach.'”
Out of nowhere, Roberts was dancing alongside Ice Cube.
“It was cool,” Ice Cube said. “If we win again, he could jump up again, and we could rock it again.”
The Dodgers (56-38) have every opportunity to defend their title this season, and celebrate with Ice Cube again. But, they’re currently in the middle of a six-game losing streak. In fact, they might need Ice Cube to make a pre-mature return, and spark his hometown team for a second-half surge.
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