PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Many baseball fans here would not speak the “P” word in the anxious days leading up to the city’s World Series title, lest they jinx the team.
But now that the Philadelphia Phillies have claimed their second championship, everyone is talking about a parade.
Hundreds of thousands of people could crowd the sidewalks on Friday to cheer the city’s first national sports title in 25 years. A hundred thousand more are expected to pack the baseball and football stadiums to watch the festivities on big screens and rally with the players.
“This is a bright and shining moment,” Mayor Michael Nutter said. “We’re going to have a great time.”
But he cautioned against the scattered vandalism that marred the postgame revelry late Wednesday and early Thursday. Police reported 76 arrests and several damaged businesses.
r will not be accepted in the city of Philadelphia.”
The parade begins downtown at noon on Friday, and is expected to take about 90 minutes to make its way to the sports complex in South Philadelphia. Team officials said the players will attend a rally at Citizens Bank Park and make a brief appearance at Lincoln Financial Field, where the Eagles play.
A limited number of free tickets to the stadiums were to be available on the Phillies’ Web site beginning at 3 p.m. Thursday.
Officials stressed the importance of using public transportation Friday, though they cautioned that buses, trains and subways are likely to be operating at full capacity.
“Patience is going to be critical, and frankly so is common sense,” said Rina Cutler, deputy mayor for transportation.
Fans continued the celebration on Thursday, snapping up World Series merchandise and keepsake copies of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. The newspapers sold out of their first run of 350,000 copies and ended up printing another 350,000 to be available by Thursday afternoon, publisher Brian Tierney said.
The last time a Philadelphia team won a major championship was in 1983, when the 76ers won the NBA title. The Phillies won their only other World Series in 1980.
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On the Net:
http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com
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