Fans from all over the Bay Area ditched school and work Wednesday so they could be at the historic World Series victory parade for the San Francisco Giants.
The Giants won the series Monday with a 3-1 victory against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. Now, 49-square-miles in the City are blocked off to celebrate the group of misfits and castoffs.
Belmont resident Bob Warfield, 54, tried to take public transit to the celebration with his family, but they weren't able to get on BART or Caltrain because they were way too crowded.
@CaltrainDiaries tweeted that an extra 19,000 riders took Caltrain to the city Wednesday morning.
Warfield ended up driving. His first-grade daughter, Carson, got permission to skip school for the celebration.
The parade began at 11 a.m. at Montgomery and Washington streets, and finished up at Civic Center Plaza, which was a sea of black and orange.
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It took the same route as the 1958 New York Giants welcoming parade when the franchise moved to the West Coast. Willie Mays played on that team and was also in Wednesday's parade.
Shaban Shakoori, a real estate agent, said he is not the only one at his workplace who played hooky today.
"I think all the realtors are probably here or watching it somewhere," he said.
Shakoori said his daughter Madeline won't be in trouble for skipping her first-grade class at Presidio Hill School today.
"Her principal encouraged us to go to the parade," he said.
Madeline said her favorite player is Buster Posey - or maybe Aubrey Huff because 17 is her favorite number.
Fans at the parade might have a little catching up to do when they return to work Thursday, but it was all worth it. The speeches at the end were very interesting. Arnold Schwarzenegger had a little fun in his speech, mentioning "The Machine," an S&M joke involving closer Brian Wilson.
Even Aubrey Huff pulled a rally thong out of his pants:
Commuters should definitely expect bridge, ferry and bus delays on their way home tonight. The bridge will have four northbound lanes and two southbound lanes open "as late into the evening as possible," officials said.
Four additional afternoon and evening ferry rides will be offered by the Golden Gate Ferry service from San Francisco to Larkspur.
BART added additional cars to its trains and also have some trains on standby if needed, BART spokesman Linton Johnson said.
"Early congestion at the ticket machines will make for a more controlled chaos on the ride back," he said.
