‘Dodge Rules’: Graffiti artist Chaka and others inspired by defending champions

Legendary graffiti artist Daniel “Chaka” Ramos once claimed that he had tagged more than 40,000 locations around Los Angeles.

He can now add seven more. Unlike decades ago, when Ramos had to sneak around in the dark and spray-paint his nickname in capital letters throughout the city and surrounding areas, this time it’s fully allowed.

Earlier this month, Nike hired Ramos to add his signature style to seven murals celebrating the Dodgers’ back-to-back World Series championships, which the team won with a dramatic Game 7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Nov. 1.

Ramos, a Los Angeles native and Dodgers fan, was more than happy to get involved, adding his name and a Nike-produced slogan to each piece. He told The Times in an email that it was his “first major project with a corporate giant like Nike.”

“They are one of the most prolific creative forces in the world, and working with them is a milestone for me,” said the 53-year-old artist. “The graffiti craze really doesn’t compare to commissions or gallery work, but the experience is close.”

The Nike mural, scheduled to remain available through November 30, is part of a new, rapidly expanding online map detailing the locations of Dodger murals in and around Los Angeles. The map was created and curated by Mike Asner, the curator of a similar website that documents the locations of hundreds of Kobe and Gianna Bryant murals around the world.

Asner has taken on a full-time role as director of sports and entertainment marketing and is responsible for maintaining the Kobe Bryant mural website. Still, the morning after the Dodgers clinched their second consecutive championship, Asner knew it was time to start tracking down more murals.

“I think the response from the fans and the artists that I know from the Kobe mural project has been really positive,” said Asner, who also has an Instagram page highlighting Dodgers murals. “I realized the most important thing is that it helps people, provides services to them and makes things easier. … After the Dodgers won back-to-back championships, we started seeing an immediate increase in the mural, so I felt like it was the right thing to do it again.”

The map currently contains 54 murals, stretching as far north as Van Nuys and all the way to Lake Elsinore. One of Asner’s standout works is a large-scale painting by artist Royalyal Dog in the Florence-Graham neighborhood of South Los Angeles (2619 Firestone Blvd.). It contains portraits of many of the great players in Dodgers history, including Tommy Lasorda, Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Turner, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani.

A large mural by Royal Dog in South Los Angeles features images of Dodgers greats past and present, including Yoshinobu Yamamoto (second from right) and Freddie Freeman (far right).

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Another of his favorite pieces is the one created by artist Gustavo Zermeño Jr. at the Eat Fantastic building in Redondo Beach (701 N. Pacific Coast Highway). Paying tribute to the 2024 World Series champions, the mural features Betts, Freeman and Ohtani, but is highlighted by a legendary image of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant wearing a basketball jersey emblazoned with Dodgers colors and lettering.

Nike’s collaboration with Chaka represents some of the newer artwork documented on Asner’s map. A Nike spokesperson said the idea was to provide a sanctioned space for Ramos in the local community to express the pride Dodgers fans feel after back-to-back championships.

Two of the murals were painted directly on the walls by Los Angeles artists, with Ramos later adding slogans and his tags. Artist Swank One painted this piece at 2844 First Street in Boyle Heights. After the Dodgers won the National League pennant, reliever Raki Sasaki and Smith embraced and chanted “On the Double.”

Graffiti artist Daniel “Chaka” Ramos was commissioned by Nike to place his tags on several temporary murals around Los Angeles to celebrate the Dodgers’ back-to-back World Series championships.

(Natasha Campos/Nike)

Artists Enkone and Keorock paint at 4560 Whittier Blvd. This mural in East Los Angeles features pitcher Blake Snell, who had a hit in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the NLCS in the postseason, with the slogan “Twice as Nice.” The mural has now been removed.

For the other four photos, Nike licensed game photos from Getty Images, covered Ramos’ label designs, and then enlarged and printed the images into murals.

These include “Twice in a Blue Moon” in Silverlake (Hollywood Boulevard and Hillhurst Avenue), starring Max Muncy and Hyesong Kim; “Repeat Heroes” in Echo Park (West Temple Street and North Boylston Street), starring Smith and Sasaki; and “Turn Two, Earn Two” in Echo Park (Sunset Boulevard and Marion Boulevard), starring Muncy Starring; and “Dodgers Rule” – a play on Ramos’ long-time slogan “Chaka Rules” – at Westlake/Echo Park (Beverly Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue), starring Sasaki.

The final mural features a photo of Yamamoto roaring. The photo was enlarged several stories high and installed several floors higher at 213 South Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. Ramos then climbed onto a suspended scaffolding and was hoisted high above his hometown, where he spent four to five hours adding his own tag and slogan “Back 2 Back.”

It might not be as bold as some of his past stunts, but Ramos is definitely feeling the urge.

“I’ve done graffiti at bold heights before without a harness, but nothing on this scale. This time I actually had to be equipped with a harness – lol,” he wrote. “It’s intense, but it’s also fun.”

The Nike-Chaka mural will be taken down soon, but Asner said he’s excited to see what other new creations may be on the map following the recent championship run.

“We’re going to see really amazing artwork, and we’re going to see Dodgers artwork that’s not necessarily on the mural. Things like Will Smith and Yoshinobu Yamamoto,” Asner said. “There are a lot of really big stars in this series and they deserve credit for a job well done. …

“You know, Ohtani is incredible and obviously Friedman is incredible. But there’s a lot of big-name players that step up – Miggy Rojas, right? That’s a huge, huge reason why they win. So it’s really cool to see what these artists are doing and I’m looking forward to seeing it myself.”