Red Sox ready to celebrate again
Parade set for Wednesday as Boston wins its fourth World Series title in 15 years
BOSTON — In what has become a championship tradition in the city, the Boston Red Sox will climb aboard duck boats for a parade to celebrate the team’s fourth World Series title in 15 years, city officials announced Monday.
The parade Wednesday will begin at 11 a.m. at Fenway Park. The team is expected to return to Boston later Monday with the World Series trophy.
Mayor Marty Walsh said that he expected large crowds for the parade and that traffic and parking restrictions would be in place, along with tight security. Police said alcohol would be prohibited along the parade route and no one would be allowed to carry weapons of any kind.
“We’ve been here before, let’s act like it,” said Police Commissioner William Gross.
The tradition of players climbing aboard the amphibious duck boats, one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions, to celebrate championships dates back to 2004, the year the Red Sox won the World Series for the first time since 1918.
In all, the city has had 11 sports championships since 2002, with the New England Patriots winning five and the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins each winning once during that period.
“Boston has certainly set a new tone around celebrations,” Walsh said. “Maybe it’s because we have a lot of them or maybe it’s because of the way we conduct ourselves.”
Jubilant fans, many of them college students, spilled out in the streets late Sunday and early Monday morning after the Red Sox’ clinching 5-1 win over the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
Boston police said the crowd was largely well-behaved, and only one arrest was reported. A 22-year-old Connecticut man was charged with malicious destruction of property after climbing a light pole and punching the plastic light fixture, causing the lens to break, officials said.
Police closed off several streets around Fenway Park. A World Series championship banner was unfurled outside it just before dawn.
Two students at Bridgewater State University were arrested early Monday after being accused of vandalizing two life-sized bear sculptures on the campus during a celebration of the Red Sox win, the Enterprise of Brockton reported.
A crowd of about 2,000 students also gathered to celebrate following the game at the University of Massachusetts’ flagship campus in Amherst, MassLive.com reported. A spokeswoman for the university said there were no arrests and no injuries reported.
DODGERS: Having lost in the World Series for the second straight year, the Dodgers enter an offseason filled with decisions about some of the franchise’s biggest names, including Clayton Kershaw, Manny Machado and manager Dave Roberts.
First up is Kershaw, who has until Wednesday to decide whether to opt out of the last two years and $65 million of his contract.
If he does, the 30-year-old pitcher who has spent his entire 11-season career in Los Angeles can become a free agent. The front office has made it clear it wants Kershaw to remain the face of the franchise.
“I just hope they do the right thing,” pitcher Rich Hill said about management retaining his fellow left-hander.
Kershaw wasn’t able to rewrite his postseason legacy of struggles, giving up three home runs Sunday in the Dodgers’ loss to the Red Sox in the deciding Game 5 .
The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner is 9-10 with a 4.32 ERA in the postseason. In two straight World Series, he’s 1-2 with an ERA of 5.40. Four of his six postseason starts in elimination games have ended in losses, including Sunday’s 5-1 defeat.
Machado was the Dodgers’ splashy acquisition, brought in midseason from Baltimore to help them win their first World Series since 1988 after shortstop Corey Seager got hurt.
Instead, they lost the Series to Boston 4-1 and watched the visiting team celebrate a championship at Dodger Stadium again. Machado was hitless in four at-bats and struck out three times, including making the final out Sunday.
Seager is expected back next spring, while Machado is not. He will join Washington’s Bryce Harper as the biggest names on the free-agent market.
Roberts is expected to receive a long-term contract extension, having led the team to three straight NL West titles and two World Series appearances in his short tenure.