RED SOX VICTORY PARADE
Saturday - October 30, 2004

Once the Red Sox came back from an 0-3 deficit to defeat the Yankees in the ALCS, i thought gee gosh, they can actually win the whole thing now. So i asked for the next Sunday off hoping the World Series would go to 6 or 7 games so I would be there when they win at home, and riot... cause that's what would've happened. Unfortunately for me, but probably fortunately for the city's sake, they swept the Cardinals in St. Louis on a Wednesday night... full moon and all. So i took the day off for nothing... or so i thought.

That weekend, Boston held a victory parade to celebrate their champions. Once i heard the news, I hopped in my Kia and was up in Boston hanging out with my friend Nate.

By 10 in the morning on a cold, gloomy, drizzly day, millions of people were lining a 7 mile parade route from Fenway Park, up Boylston Street, and around the Charles River. Nate and I were on Boylston across from Fenway waiting for the players riding on Duckboat Tour vehicles to parade by.
Me and Nate in the crowded streets
Anxious fans. The parade was supposed to start at 10, but it was a little delayed, but no one complained. Nate's apartment is just a block from the park, so it was convenient to get a spot there in the beginning of the route.
This mass of people goes on for miles
There were people who were camping out before dawn to get a front row view. I'm not hardcored enough to wake up that early. And by the time we had breakfast at McDonalds, we were standing 3 or 4 deep. This isn't a problem for Nathan cause he's tall, but i'm short, and all i end up seeing are heads, so we had to find an alternative. We walked along the route and found people climbing an escape ladder to the top of a building. The cops weren't paying attention so we joined them. It was only a handful of people at first, but once we got in line, a crowd was gathering. Fat asses and old guys were climbing so slowly, and i wanted to get up before the cops stopped us. Luckily we made it, and soon after we climbed to the top, the cops intervened, and stopped the climbers.
Yay, front row!
The crowd found ways to entertain themselves
Fans from Maine to Connecticut and beyond unite... i was watching the news later that day, and they were talking to people who had driven all the way up from Florida just for the parade.
Probably a good thing the police stopped the climbers cause the roof could've collapsed or something else tragically fun.
So would I!!! oh wait... oh... ew.
Here they come!
And the players start rolling in...
It's funny looking at all the fan's expressions... especially the girl on the bottom left.
Haha...Wakefield doesn't even crack a smile
After the parade passed through, we decided to play follow the crowd. My intention was to follow the parade route, but then we fell off track. Then we saw that people were gathering at the Charles River... me and Nate were winging it and didn't really know what we were doing, so we just stayed there. Turned out they were gonna continue the parade in the river itself. It was a pretty long wait as the crowd grew and grew. The crowd pumped itself up by doing the wave... from one side, over the bridge, to the other side. it never quite made it, but it was funny hearing the awwww when the wave stopped.

Finally, after a couple hours, we saw the duckboats emerge over the horizon, and we got to enjoy the parade all over again.
fans of every generation...
And the players come rolling by again... i mean sailing
After the parade passed, i was upset i didn't get to see Millar... thank goodness my camera sees what my bad eyes cannot... turns out i got a shot of him.
Wakefield is still in his own little world.
some fans are just crazy
This guy dies of pneumonia a week after
It's like Jesus blessing his people
And as soon as they arrice, they are gone... but we're not done yet...
After the parade passed, Nate and I played follow the crowd again hoping they'd lead us to something interesting, but they didn't, so we just walked back home. But to get to home, we had to pass Fenway Park, no good, the roads were blocked. We were pissed cause we were hungry... but we just waited outside the park until they let us through. Then the crowd grew thicker and then we heard the players had returned... the crowd was waiting to catch a final glimpse of the players as they left the park to go home. So there we stood, in the cold drizzle amongst hundreds of fans, waiting, hoping to see the players. It was hilarious because the garage door would open up, the crowd would get excited and speculate who was coming out. if it was a fan favorite, we'd erupt in cheers. if it was someone we didn't recognize, the crowd would go awww... it's nobody. and this went on for more than an hour, it was hilarious, like people didn't want the day to end. Then sometimes someone would have access to the park, and the crowd would make up cheers... "LET'S GO BALD GUY!"... Then another bald guy came out, and it was "LET'S GO BOLD GUY 2". The players hardly waved as they passed though... only Schilling really slowed down to wave, but all we ended up really seeing were a bunch of SUV's, volvos, and H2s pass by. But somehow, to this diehard crowd, it made the day complete.
"who is it?"
"it's only a ford, can't be too important."
'it looks like terry francona."
"is it?"
[car gets closer]
"IT IS FRANCONA"
[crowd cheers]YAY!!!

....and this same scenario went on for over an hour

People who waited til the end got an extra special treat... John Henry came out to show the trophy to the crowd.
And the gates are open. Finally, lunch.
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