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In the eyes of a lifelong Dodgers fan and longtime Mexican American, the most memorable moment of the World Series did not occur during the nail-biting final game on Saturday, when her team pulled off multiple death-defying comeback feat after another before prevailing in overtime over the Toronto Blue Jays.

It came a game earlier, when two second-tier players, the Puerto Rican player and the Venezuelan infielder, executed a thrilling, game-winning sequence that at the same time challenged numerous harmful misconceptions promoted about Hispanic people in the past years.

The moment itself was breathtaking: the outfielder charged in from left field to snag a ball he initially lost in the bright lights, then fired it to second base to secure another, game-winning play. the second baseman, at second base, caught the ball moments before a runner barreled into him, knocking him backwards.

This was not merely a remarkable athletic moment, possibly the key shift in momentum in the Dodgers' direction after appearing for much of the games like the underdog team. To her, it was exhilarating, on multiple levels, a much-required morale boost for the community and for the city after a period of enforcement actions, troops monitoring the streets, and a constant stream of criticism from national leaders.

"The players presented this alternative story," said Molina. "The world saw Latinos displaying an infectious enthusiasm in what they do, being key figures on the team, having a different kind of masculinity. They're bombastic, they're cheering, they're taking off their shirts."

"It was such a juxtaposition with what we observe on the news – enforcement actions, Latinos thrown to the ground and chased down. It is so simple to be demoralized right now."

Not that it's entirely straightforward to be a team supporter nowadays – for her or for the legions of other fans who show up regularly to home games and fill up as many as 50% of the stadium's fifty thousand seats per game.

The Mixed Relationship with the Organization

After aggressive immigration raids began in the city in June, and military units were sent into the area to respond to ensuing demonstrations, two of the city's soccer clubs promptly issued statements of support with immigrant families – but not the baseball team.

Management stated the organization want to stay away of political issues – a view influenced, possibly, by the fact that a significant portion of the fans, even some Hispanic fans, are followers of current political figures. After considerable external demands, the team subsequently committed $1m in support for individuals personally affected by the operations but issued no public criticism of the administration.

White House Visit and Past Heritage

Three months before, the team did not hesitate in agreeing to an offer to celebrate their previous World Series win at the official residence – a move that local writers described as "disappointing … spineless … and hypocritical", considering the team's boast in having been the pioneering professional franchise to end the color barrier in the mid-20th century and the regular references of that legacy and the principles it represents by executives and present and former players. Several players such as the manager had expressed reluctance to go to the White House during the first term but either reconsidered or gave in to pressure from team management.

Corporate Ownership and Supporter Conflicts

A further issue for supporters is that the Dodgers are controlled by a large investment group, the ownership group, whose equity holdings, as per media reports and its own published financial documents, involve a share in a private prison company that runs detention centers. Guggenheim's executives has stated many times that it aims to remain neutral of political matters, but its detractors say the silence – and the investment – are their own type of compliance to certain policies.

These factors contribute to considerable mixed feelings among Latino fans in particular – feelings that surfaced even in the euphoria of this year's hard-fought World Series victory and the ensuing explosion of Dodgers support across the city.

"Can one to root for the team?" area writer Erick Galindo reflected at the start of the postseason in an elegant essay ruminating on "Dodger blue in our blood, but uncertainty in our hearts". Galindo couldn't ultimately bring himself to watch the World Series, but he still felt deeply, to the point that he decided his personal protest must have given the team the luck it required to succeed.

Distinguishing the Players from the Management

Many supporters who have similar misgivings seem to have concluded that they can continue to back the team and its roster of international stars, including the Asian superstar a key player, while pouring scorn on the team's business overlords. Nowhere was this more evident than at the championship parade at Dodger Stadium on Monday, when the packed audience roared in approval of the coach and his players but booed the team president and the chief executive of the ownership group.

"The executives in suits don't get to take our boys in blue from us," Molina said. "We've been with the team for more time than they have."

Historical Background and Community Effect

The issue, though, runs deeper than only the organization's current proprietors. The deal that moved the former franchise to Los Angeles in the 1950s required the city demolishing three low-income Latino neighborhoods on a hill overlooking the city center and then transferring the land to the organization for a small part of its market value. A track on a 2005 album that chronicles the events has an impoverished worker at the stadium revealing that the home he lost to eviction is now a part of the field.

A prominent commentator, perhaps southern California most widely followed Mexican American columnist and media personality, sees a darker side to the lengthy, problematic relationship between the franchise and its audience. He calls the team the popular snack of baseball, "a business organization with an undue, even harmful following by numerous Latinos" that has been shortchanging its supporters for years.

"They've put one arm around Hispanic fans while picking their pockets with the other for so much time because they have been able to get away with it," Arellano wrote over the warmer months, when calls to avoid the organization over its absence of reaction to the enforcement actions were upended by the uncomfortable reality that attendance at matches remained steady, even at the peak of the demonstrations when the city center was subject to a evening curfew.

Global Stars and Fan Connections

Separating the squad from its corporate owners is not a simple matter, {