Red Sox fans celebrate latest title; parade scheduled for Wednesday
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.
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.