NewsYankees fans tired, elated on day after
World Series champs gear on display around New York
By Brittany Ghiroli / Special to MLB.com
11/05/09 1:45 PM EST
NEW YORK -- The Yankees' World Series-winning parade is slated to start at 11 a.m. ET on Friday.
So the thousands of Yankees fans spewing out onto the streets late Wednesday night, up River Avenue and down to Times Square, resembled a dress rehearsal of the grandest sort: a celebration that promised to carry on until their beloved team marched down Broadway through the Canyon of Heroes. Just under 10 minutes before the clock hit midnight, baseball dominance had been restored to New York, and the City that Never Sleeps was about to prove its moniker correct.
"I didn't get any sleep [because] I don't want to miss anything," Bronx native Jimmy Fuller said. The 42-year-old lifelong Yankees fan was still hoarse on Thursday morning, admittingly from shouting through the better part of the Yankees' 7-3 win over the Phillies in the Fall Classic-clinching Game 6.
"I was counting down the outs, and once I saw [Mariano] Rivera come in, I started dancing around my living room with my three boys," Fuller said. "They've never seen a championship, and now they'll remember [Wednesday] night for the rest of their lives."
"It was out of control, insane, pandemonium -- any big word you want to use to describe it," Brooklyn resident Chris Cannizaro said of the high-fiving conga line of people that poured out of the new Yankee Stadium and into the streets, armed with a spot atop baseball history and a right to celebrate into the wee hours of Thursday morning.
"I've been coming to games since I was this high," the 29-year-old Cannizaro said, stooping down to raise his hand several feet above the sidewalk. "But [Wednesday's crowd], I've never seen anything like it, except maybe when they won in '98. It was fun to watch and great to be a part of."
Cannizaro watched from his outfield seat with the "Bleacher Creatures" as the 27th out landed safely in first baseman Mark Teixeira's glove, causing the three decks of the brand-new $1.5 billion stadium to shake in an emotionally charged display. Fans watched the home dugout empty to surround Rivera in a state of long-awaited bliss. But as the Yankees ran onto the field, the sellout crowd of 50,315 -- the largest to attend a playoff game at the new Yankee Stadium -- patiently remained glued to its seats, more than content to watch history unfold.
As Rivera stood on stage, proudly holding up the back page of a newspaper with the headline, "No. 27", fans around the five boroughs were also celebrating well into Thursday morning.
"27th Heaven" said the front-page headline of the New York Post, with a picture of the Yankees rushing to the mound in childlike glee. "Top of the World" read the Metro paper, as it was passed around the subway cars and tucked under the arms of tired-looking businessmen, with suits on their backs and Yankees pinstripes in their hearts.
"See this?" said James Dewey, nearly giddy as he opened his briefcase to display a Yankees World Series champion hat, the tag and licensed sticker still intact. A lawyer who works on Manhattan's East Side, Dewey planned on meeting up with friends after work to relive the glory and pass the hours until Friday's parade, which he hoped to watch on MLB.com.
"As soon as the clock strikes six, this is going on," Dewey said of the hat he bought just minutes after Hideki Matsui was crowned World Series MVP. "It's been a long time, but it feels right."
As dozens of people shuttled to work, Yankees caps snuggly tucked over cowlicks and rumpled bedhead, the pinstriped city that Phinished the Phillies' chances of back-to-back titles remained in a dream-like state.
"It's a beautiful morning, isn't it?" Cannizaro said.
Yes, it was exactly the kind of day Yankees fans had been dreaming of for nine years, a return to glory that even Thursday's threatening skies couldn't put a damper on.
"We're No. 1, baby," Fuller said, extending his index finger in the air overhead, as if he was still signaling to the baseball gods. "And we're going to stay there."
Brittany Ghiroli is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
