'It's a community:' How the term 'Los Doyers' has been uniting Latino Dodgers fans for years

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The term "Los Doyers" has been around since the '70s.

When Dodgers fans who spoke only Spanish would try to say "Dodgers," it came out sounding like "Doyers."

But there's something unique and special about the term that resonates with the Latinos.

"It's community, or comunidad, for sure," said fan Ivan Arevalo. "East L.A. is a massive Dodgers community. We love them. We represent them. It's a lifestyle. You wear the logo with pride; you wear the colors with pride."

Dr. Priscilla Leiva, an assistant professor of Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies at Loyola Marymount University, spoke with Eyewitness News about the term's origin.

"The 'Doyers,' or the Dodgers, really become a way that Latinos become incorporated into the city, and really become a lot more visible, you know, now whereas they were 10% of the population when the Dodgers first arrived," she said.

Years before they arrived, Chavez Ravine was home to a Mexican and Mexican-American neighborhood.

In the '50s, through eminent domain, the City of Los Angeles had the hundreds of families removed to make way for public housing that was never built. A city referendum paved the way for the stadium to be built.

Decades later, fans in East L.A. told us when you hear the term "Los Doyers," it unites all Latinos.

"We're all inclusive," said fan Julia Hernandez. "We're all one big 'raza' like how they say it, even though they are different ethnicities to it. Everyone comes together, everyone rallies together when it comes to the Dodgers so it's really an amazing thing to see."

Leiva points out that the Dodgers embraced the Latino community early on: Remember "Fernandomania" with Fernando Valenzuela? He went on to become one of the most influential Latino players in Dodger history.

"When they got to Los Angeles, they understood the demographic, and in some ways, maybe they predicted where the demographics were going because the search for Fernando Valenzuela was one that was intentional, and the bringing in Jaime Jarrin and Spanish-language broadcasting, they were really at the forefront of all of those movements."

The Dodgers, winners of 11 of the past 12 NL West championships, and the San Diego Padres are currently meeting in a five-game series with epically high stakes.

As the city continues to root for "Los Doyers," fans hope they'll become "campeones de la serie mundial" - or World Series Champs.

In either language, the title sounds pretty good.