Boston announces plans for parade to celebrate Red Sox

BOSTON -- The city will toast its first World Series champions in 86 years with a parade Saturday that will stretch from the Fenway to City Hall Plaza.

Mayor Thomas Menino announced the plans at a news conference Thursday with Boston Red Sox president Larry Lucchino. The team swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series with a 3-0 win in Game 4 on Wednesday night, giving the Red Sox their first title since 1918.

"This is a historic occasion that goes to the heart of what it means to be a Bostonian," Menino said. "Many Sox fans wondered if they'd ever see a World Series, a world championship, in our lifetime. I'm proud that on Saturday we can all celebrate it together."

An estimated 1.5 million people attended the Feb. 3 parade for the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. About 1.2 million celebrated the Patriots' 2002 Super Bowl win -- the first Boston pro sports title since 1986.

But officials have said Saturday's crowd could be even bigger, partly because of the Red Sox's enormous popularity across New England, and partly because of a championship drought that has spanned generations and included several agonizing near misses.

Last week, a college student was killed by police firing pepper spray-filled pellets into a rowdy crowd of fans celebrating the pennant-clinching win over the New York Yankees.

"Public safety is our No. 1 priority," Menino said. "Let's show the team what the fans are made of and behave in a way we can all be proud of."

Lucchino said team officials will take the World Series trophy to all six New England states in the coming weeks.

"We are all in uncharted territory here," Lucchino said. "But we do know that it will give our fans an opportunity to salute our players and it will give our players a chance to salute our fans."

The parade will start in the morning at the intersection of Boylston and Kilmarnock streets, in the Fenway, and will end on Cambridge Street near City Hall.