18+ hour, 47+ min ago (735+ words) Legendary graffiti artist Daniel "Chaka" Ramos once claimed he had tagged more than 40,000 locations around Los Angeles. He can now add seven more. And unlike decades ago " when Ramos had to sneak around in darkness to spray-paint his nickname in large, block letters all over the city and surrounding areas " this time it was fully permissible. Earlier this month, Nike recruited Ramos to add his signature style to seven murals celebrating the Dodgers" back-to-back World Series titles, which the team clinched Nov. 1 with a dramatic Game 7 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays. Ramos, an L.A. native and Dodgers fan, was more than happy to participate, adding his name and slogans crafted by Nike to each piece. He told The Times in an email that it was his "first major project with a corporate giant like Nike." "They"re one of the…...

3+ hour, 5+ min ago (791+ words) Shohei Ohtani will once again represent Team Japan in next year's World Baseball Classic. Whether or not he pitches in the international tournament, however, remains unclear. On Monday, Ohtani announced on Instagram he is planning to participate in the WBC for the second time in his career. In the 2023 WBC, he won tournament MVP with a .435 batting average and 1.86 pitching ERA, helping Japan to that year's title. He punctuated the event with his memorable strikeout of Mike Trout for the final out in the championship game. The baseballs turned into fast cash for two Blue Jays fans and one Dodgers fan who secured their possession through good fortune and quick thinking. "I'm happy to play again representing Japan," Ohtani wrote in Japanese on Monday. The question now is whether Ohtani will pitch in the event, which takes place in March,…...