Shop owners ensure local paradegoers are properly ‘geared’
Red Sox fans get the goods in time for today’s party
WOONSOCKET – Local Red Sox fans heading to Boston today for the team’s World Series Victory Parade through the city didn’t have to travel far this week to get their proper Red Sox World Series attire for the trip.
The local Olympia Sports store at Walnut Hill Plaza had a good supply of official Red Sox World Series Champions hats and T-shirts on Tuesday, even after a bit of a rush on the products when they arrived Monday evening.
Josh Avila, the store’s manager, reported the local store sold about 40 of the World Series locker room hats to eager fans after they were delivered, and more were being sold on Tuesday as the parade approached.
Avila and the store’s assistant manger, Barry Silvia, both watched the Red Sox play the Los Ange- les Dodgers in this year’s dramatic World Series and said the result only cemented their love of the local team.
“The end result was just amazing and I have a whole new level of respect for them,” Avila said.
The real challenge for the Red Sox had been their 18-inning marathon in Game 3, a matchup lasting locally until after 3:30 a.m. The Red Sox lost that game but didn’t let it stop their drive for a fourth World Series title in 14 years, and came back to win the next two games in Los Angeles to claim the World Champions trophy.
“It was fantastic,” Avila said. “I was surprised that Game 3 lasted over three hours, but it gave me a better appreciation for what they have been able to accomplish,” Avila said of the Red Sox, a team winning a franchise record of 108 games in the regular season.
Silvia, a baseball fan who has coached local Little League teams, said the Red Sox have truly proved themselves to be a winning organization in recent years, with their four World Series wins in 2004, 2007, 2013, and now 2018.
Today, Red Sox fans are “getting pretty spoiled with the recent four championships the Red Sox have won,” Silvia said. It was a lot different when he was growing up, he noted, and the Red Sox came close but didn’t take home the world championship trophy in those days.
Today, Silvia will be heading to Boston with his sons, Mathew and Mark, to catch the parade. And yes, they will be properly attired spectators along the route.