Giants World Series Parade: Ticker Tape Tour Through San Francisco Celebrates Win Over Texas

After the Giants' World Series parade, a ceremony was held in front of San Francisco's City Hall and before a seemingly innumerable crowd. Ushered to the microphone were, among others, Bruce Bochy, Tim Lincecum, Brian Wilson, Matt Cain, Freddy Sanchez, and finally, Aubrey Huff.

Huff did not sport his "rally thong" exclusively during Wednesday's events, as he said he was considering, but he made sure to give it its due. With a nod to Zoolander, Huff pulled the thong out of his pants and held it up for the crowd to see.

In what other situation would this happen? Does this happen when the Yankees win a championship, or the Cowboys, or the Lakers, or the Blackhawks? Most championship parades and ceremonies are entirely unremarkable. This one, I have to admit, was actually meaningful to a non-Giants fan.

I say "I have to admit" because the shtick was beginning to wear thin for me. Yes, they're all wild and crazy knuckleheads, just goin' out there, playin' hard, etc., and I already saw this in Boston. All of it -- the crazy hair, the personalities, the beard -- seemed gimmicky and manufactured.

I can't speak to how manufactured any of it really is, but watching today's ceremony convinced me to not care. Get these personalities out of the ballpark and into the streets of a metropolis and give them a microphone, and they remind you that this is a unique team. Not just because they were the team we didn't see coming, but because their actions are somehow authentic with the precision of a screenplay. And setting aside the personalities, this team gave us some damned good baseball to watch.

And that's it. Save for the gamesmanship of off-season free agency and trade talks, baseball is leaving us for a time. Three and a half months is too long to wait, but the wait begins on a thoroughly pleasant note.

Oh! Almost forgot. Giants fans, please don't use the word "torture" any more, ever.

For more, be sure to check out our excellent Giants blog, McCovey Chronicles, and our San Francisco site, SB Nation Bay Area.

The Giants' World Series championship parade finally pulled to a stop on McAllister, right in front of City Hall. Minutes later, broadcasters Jon Miller and Dave Fleming presented the Giants players and staff, one by one, to the enormous crowd that swarmed in and around the Civic Center.

On a scale of 1 to 10, here's my rating of the crowd's reaction to each personality introduced:

Governor Arnold Schwarzennegger negative-4
Mayor Gavin Newsom 6
Tim Flannery 3
Hensley Meulens 4
Dave Righetti 5
Bruce Bochy 8 (complete with Bochy chant)
Emmanuel Burriss 2
Juan Uribe 8 (complete with OOH-ribe chant)
Mark DeRosa 3
Eugenio Velez 5
Pat Burrell 7 (possibly artificial number because he clapped for himself)
Travis Ishikawa 6
Nate Schierholtz 6
Cody Ross 9
Mike Fontenot 4
Aubrey Huff 8
Matt Cain 8
Freddy Sanchez 6 (complete with Freddy chant)
Eli Whiteside 4
Buster Posey 10 (complete with Posey chant)
Ryan Rowlinger 2
Aaron Rowand 6
Darren Ford 4
Brian Wilson 10 (complete with Fear The Beard chant and this dude)


Madison Bumgarner 7
Jeremy Affeldt 4 (some dude was still chanting Fear The Beard)
Dan Runsler 2
Santiago Casilla 3
Chris Ray 3
Pablo Sandoval 8
Javier Lopez 6
Ramon Ramirez 3
Sergio Romo 5
Andres Torres 8
Jonathan Sanchez 6 (some dude was booing)
Guillermo Mota 2
Barry Zito 7 (huh)
Tim Lincecum like a billion
Edgar Renteria 7 (complete with MVP chant)

And unbelievably, there has not been a single mention of "torture" so far in this ceremony. Thank you, city.

For more, be sure to check out our excellent Giants blog, McCovey Chronicles, and our San Francisco site, SB Nation Bay Area.

San Francisco sits in a pretty technologically-inclined corner of America, and hundreds of thousands of fans are present on Market Street for the Giants' victory parade. So, of course, there is no shortage of live photos from the event.

First, here's the peerless Willie Mays, who, unsurprisingly, is drawing deafening cheers all the way down the street:

At the moment, we can't offer an accurate estimate of just how many San Franciscans are present for the parade. Here's a telling photo, though. These fans are packed in a standing-room-only crowd hundreds of feet from the parade itself:

This parade is rolling through the city's business district. Hey, looks like all is well at the Municipal Department Of Reveling and Confetti Throwing.

This screen grab proves what was previously reported: Brian Wilson is loose in the wild.

For more, be sure to check out our excellent Giants blog, McCovey Chronicles, and our San Francisco site, SB Nation Bay Area.

The CSN broadcast crew doesn't seem to have noticed, but during the Giants' World Series parade, closer Brian Wilson has apparently left his trolley and taken to the San Francisco streets. From local radio station KCBS:

Brian Wilson bolts from the cable car, running down Market Street in silver shoes. Fear the beard.

This comes minutes after Wilson stuck his mohawked head out of the car and yelled, "SAN FRANCISCO, THIS IS RIDICULOUS!" And, yes, he is still wearing his beard. Either before or after bolting from his trolley, Wilson said this:

Reporter:    Is the beard coming off?
Brian Wilson:    Are you kidding me? Fear the Beard for life!

There it is, folks. Brian Wilson has left the float, but his beard is apparently not going anywhere.

For more, be sure to check out our excellent Giants blog, McCovey Chronicles, and our San Francisco site, SB Nation Bay Area.

Over four million people live in the San Francisco metro area. The way it looks on the television broadcasts, it would be easy to believe that every one of them showed up for the Giants' parade.

The celebration for the World Series champions is now underway, and fans are crowding the sidewalks at every turn. Many fans arrived at sunrise. The financial district is so packed, in fact, that the public transportation service has had to temporarily cancel a number of stops.

When the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958, an estimated two million people gathered along this very same stretch of Market Street to welcome them. There are no official attendance numbers available yet, or even official estimates, but it's very possible that more are present for today's celebration. Here's a look from the broadcast:

For more, be sure to check out our excellent Giants blog, McCovey Chronicles, and our San Francisco site, SB Nation Bay Area.

Upon clicking on that headline, you knew you were in for a sexy story. And you'll get it! Kind of! Aubrey Huff, the Giants' most valuable offensive weapon during their World Series-winning season, has remarked that he's thinking about wearing his thong during the parade. Like, only his thong.

Warning: Giants slugger Aubrey Huff is considering a grand unveiling for his lucky red thong at the parade.

"I'm probably going to wear it all by itself in the parade," Huff said. "I better get a spray tan, huh?"

Is he joking? It's difficult to say, but this Giants team has successfully manufactured a silly, iconoclastic image this season. And unlike most parts of the country today, the temperature in San Francisco is a pleasant 70 degrees, which I would imagine is ideal thong climate.

And... okay, listen. This season, Aubrey Huff recorded more RBI than anyone else on his team, a team that needed every single run it could get. He drove in four critical runs against the Rangers in the World Series. He's an 11-year veteran with great career numbers who, somehow, has never been voted an All-Star. Prior to this season, he had never reached the playoffs with any team; in fact, he has spent almost his entire career with cellar-dwelling teams. If any player deserves to ride through the streets nearly buck-naked if he so chooses, it's Aubrey Huff. Damn it, he's earned this.

The Giants' parade through San Francisco on Wednesday (2 P.M. Eastern, 11:00 A.M. Pacific) will be broadcast live on MLB Network. The broadcast will include the ceremony at City Hall as well as the parade itself. An encore showing will be broadcast at 11:00 P.M. Pacific.

If you don't have access to MLB Network, though, Sacramento's Fox 40 will be broadcasting live streaming video on its website. Once the parade starts, you'll be able to watch it here. Still another option: CSN Bay Area will be streaming its own live coverage starting at 10:30 A.M. Pacific.

Stay tuned to this StoryStream, which we'll be updating as events unfold. Also, be sure to check out our Giants blog, McCovey Chronicles, and our local site, SB Nation Bay Area.

At 11:00 Pacific time on Wednesday morning, the Giants will celebrate San Francisco's first-ever World Series championship with a parade through the city's financial district that will pull to a halt in front of City Hall. The procession will start at the corner of Washington and Montgomery Streets, head southwest on Market Street, then veer right on 7th Street and left on McAllister Street, where it will end at the Civic Center.

Here's a map of the Giants' parade route:

View Untitled in a larger map

Weather.com is projecting beautiful weather conditions in San Francisco during the parade -- the forecast calls for sunny skies and temparatures around 70 degrees. The procession is expected to spend about 90 minutes winding through the 1.6-mile parade route; at 12:30 local time, a ceremony will be held in front of City Hall.

Interestingly enough, the parade route replicates that of the one held in 1958, in celebration of the Giants' move from New York to San Francisco. Stay tuned to this StoryStream, which we'll be updating with events as they unfold.