So, the immediate news items in the wake of the Yankees’$2 27th championship on Wednesday night were that manager Joe Girardi will change his uniform number to 28, and that Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada are not the world’s most compelling Letterman guests. (Though we did enjoy Dave asking Pettitte if he’d been out “managing a Dairy Queen” for a few years, which isn’t that different than playing for the Astros.) In other words, no major news. But now: Now it’s parade time.
The Daily News has the definitive guide to watching the parade today, though if you’re wanting one of those fancy City Hall slots, you’re already too late. It begins in about an hour and a half, at 11 a.m., and you can actually call 311 to get ticker tape. (We tried. They just tell you to pick some up in lower Manhattan early.)
It’s the first Yankees World Series win in nine years, which means it’ll be the first time they’ll take the Canyon of Heroes not in the shadow of the World Trade Center. The parade lasts two hours — as long as it usually takes to drive up Broadway from Bowling Green to City Hall, so nothing unusual there — and then players and Girardi will speak and hug and Nick Swisher will do something wacky and everyone will shrug, because hey, that guy crazy.
Our own Joe DeLessio is already on the parade route, pretending he’s doing a job but mostly taking pictures and giggling like a 12-year-old, and he’ll have a full slideshow for us later in the day. We recommend you all leave work and go down there, too. These don’t happen often, and it’s not even that cold yet. It’s a chance to hang on to the baseball season one last time. Take advantage of it.
Plus, you know, free ticker tape.
By the way, if you want to know how the crowd is shaping up, here’s what it looked like at 8:15 (via Big League Stew).