Thousands attend Phillies World Series parade

Nov 1, 2008 - 12:23 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Phillies celebrated their first World Series title in 28 years Friday afternoon with a raucous parade through the "City of Brotherly Love."

Hundreds of thousands of fans attended the festivities, which began in downtown Philadelphia and ended at Citizens Bank Park.

"This is the biggest parade I've ever been in," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, who hoisted the World Series trophy as Philadelphia celebrated its first major professional sports title in 25 years. "It's like Christmas came two months early."

"You look at all those people, all of them are happy. To see how they were hollering and screaming, everything about it was so real. To me, that was absolutely amazing, but that also goes to show you how much they love the Phillies."

The three-hour ceremony began on Market Street and proceeded east toward City Hall before turning south on to Broad Street.

The parade was led by left field Pat Burrell, who rode in a horse-drawn carriage. The longest-tenured current member of the Phillies and a pending free agent for this coming offseason, Burrell was greeted by chants of "Bring back Pat!"

World Series MVP Cole Hamels, shortstop Jimmy Rollins, center fielder Shane Victorino and the Phillie Fanatic, the franchise's beloved mascot, also were present as eight flatbed trucks slowly made their way through the city.

"It was crazy. The fans were going nuts," second baseman Chase Utley said. "I know we have some pretty die-hard, crazy fans. I didn't know we had that many, though."

The Phillies clinched their first title since 1980 in rousing fashion Wednesday with a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in the resumption of Game Five, which had been suspended by rain in the bottom of the sixth inning two nights earlier.

Ironically, the weather fully cooperated Friday afternoon, as local temperatures rose as high as the mid 60s.

When Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske on Wednesday night, not only did the Phillies became champions, the city of Philadelphia had its first title in one of the four major sports since the NBA's 76ers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in 1983.

When the Phillies won their first title in 1980, the crowd was estimated at 750,000 to 1.5 million, with another 80,000 at J.F.K. Stadium, where players and team officials addressed the fans, the Philadelphia Daily News Reported.

According to reports, the biggest parade of all came in 1974 for the NHL's Flyers, who were adored by more than 2 million fans.