WORLD SERIES PARADE
Fans celebrate World Series at downtown parade
Nov 3, 2017, 10:21 pm
Downtown Houston was the site of the parade. Bob Levey/Getty Images
The Astros landed in Houston on Thursday evening as World Series Champs. On Friday afternoon the city of Houston came out to greet them. Getting out to City Hall for the Astros Parade was no easy task, but 100’s of thousands made it. It was a fight to get to the front. Through the sea of orange…..strollers, wheelchairs, bikes, lawn chairs, people of all ages screaming “Let’s Go Astros.”
It was then that I realized this moment was not just for Astros fans, it was for the city of Houston. A city where almost two months ago, the streets of the parade route sat under water. After everything this city has been through, there was nothing that was going to stop people from getting to this parade. This team brought Houston back together and this city was going to be there for them to welcome them home. Bosses let their employees out of work early, HISD cancelled school, Metro busses & rails were free. We live in one of the largest cities in America and today it felt like every single person who calls Houston home was downtown at 2 p.m.
People sat in traffic, parked miles away from the route, walked for 30 minutes through tons of sweaty people in hopes to get a glimpse of the World Champions. No one complained and people just kept cheering through the streets because how often do you get to witness your hometown team win a Championship? The last major championship parade this city has seen was in ‘94, ‘95 when the Rockets won it all. We will talk about this parade for years to come because this time it was the Astros we get to call World Champions.
It took a lot of time to get downtown and only seconds for the boys in orange to ride by on a fire truck. We did it for the experience. To say we were there when the World Champs came home. Those were the faces we stayed up late watching all week. Those were the guys we talked about at work, we all heard about on the radio and tv, and now they’re home. We won’t remember the traffic, or the heat. We will remember the moment.
Thank you to all the people who worked overtime to create this memory for our city. Streets were blocked off and there was increased security so families, friends, co-workers, and fans were all safe in the streets. A lot of people made a ton of sacrifices to make our safety a priority. It is an honor to call Houston home. We have the world champions!
Sports Illustrated predicted your 2017 Champs, and now Ben Reiter is predicting it again. Back to back championships for the Houston Astros.
See you all next season at the ballpark.
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Alex Bregman couldn’t hold back the smile when he was asked who might have had the biggest impact on his decision to sign with the Boston Red Sox.
“My favorite player Dustin Pedroia,” Bregman said of the club's former second baseman and two-time World Series champion.
“He reached out a few times this offseason and talked about how special it was to be a part of the Boston Red Sox,” Bregman said Sunday. “It was really cool to be able to talk to him as well as so many other former players here in Boston and current players on the team as well.”
A day after Bregman's $120 million, three-year contract was announced, he sat at a 25-minute news conference between his agent, Scott Boras, and Boston Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow. Manager Alex Cora, who gave Bregman a hug after he handed the infielder his No. 2 jersey, also was at the table along with team president Sam Kennedy.
Breslow and Cora wouldn't say whether Bregman would move to play second base, Pedroia's position, or remain at third — a position manned by Rafael Devers since July 2017.
A few players, Jarren Duran and Rob Refsnyder among them, and coaches stood behind the seated reporters to listen.
Bregman gets a $5 million signing bonus, a $35 million salary this season and $40 million in each of the following two years, with some of the money deferred, and he can opt out after the 2025 and 2026 seasons to become a free agent again.
Asked why he agreed to the shorter contract with opt outs, he leaned forward to the microphone in front of him and replied: “I just think I believe in my abilities.”
Originally selected by Boston in the 29th round of the 2012 amateur draft, Bregman attended LSU before the Houston Astros picked him second overall in 2015. His family history with the Red Sox goes back further.
“My dad grew up sitting on Ted Williams’ lap,” he said.
MLB.com said Stan Bregman, the player's grandfather, was a lawyer who represented the Washington Senators and negotiated Williams' deal to become manager.
Boston has missed the playoffs in five of the last six seasons and had avoided signing the highest-profile free agents. Boras said a conversation with Red Sox controlling owner John Henry showed ownership’s desire to get back to winning.
“I think it was after Soto signed,’’ Boras said, citing the record contract he negotiated for Juan Soto with the Mets. “We had a discussion. I could tell knowing John back with the Marlins and such, he had a real onus about ‘we need to do things differently than what we’ve done before.’
“This is a point and time where I believe Red Sox ownership was hungry for championship play and exhausted with what had happened the last five, six years.”
Called the “perfect fit” by Breslow, the 30-year-old Bregman joined the Red Sox after winning two World Series titles and reaching the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons with Houston.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the playoffs the first eight years of my career, and I plan on continuing to do that here,” he said in his opening remarks. “I’m a winning player and this is a winning organization.”
Coming off an 81-81 season, the Red Sox acquired left-hander Garrett Crochet from the White Sox and signed fellow pitchers Walker Buehler, Patrick Sandoval, Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson during the offseason.
After the pitching moves, they found a right-handed bat, too.
“As the offseason progressed it just became clearer and clearer that Alex was the perfect fit for what we were trying to accomplish,” Breslow said.
Bregman ranks first among players with at least 75 career plate appearances in Fenway Park with an OPS of 1.240.
“He fits like a glove for our organization,” Kennedy said.