3 million fans cheer World Champs

Raw autumn weather didn't stop Red Sox fans from saying thanks.
BOSTON (AP) -- Confetti rained down and the "Hallelujah Chorus" resounded through city streets Saturday as grateful fans embraced the World Series champion Boston Red Sox during a jubilant parade that even went afloat on the Charles River.
An estimated 3.2 million people packed the 7-mile parade route on a raw autumn day with spitting rain, standing in dense crowds, hanging from windows and cheering from rooftops.
Some held signs bearing words of thanks, marriage proposals and expressions of wonder at the team's achievement after 86 years of dashed hopes since its last championship in 1918.
"All is forgiven," read one banner. "Now we just have to wait for the other six signs of the apocalypse," said another. And dozens said simply: "Thank you."
Love of the Sox
"It started raining and it was cold and the people didn't even care," pitcher Derek Lowe said. "They've waited a long time. You'll never see a parade like that with so many people, no matter what sport or what city."
The parade wound from Fenway Park, past Boston Common and City Hall and onto the Charles River, with Red Sox players riding 17 of the amphibious vehicles known since World War II as "ducks."
Businesses along the route rose to the occasion, with one wedding boutique putting a bright red "B" on each dress in its display window. The Loew's Theatres at the Boston Common used huge letters to change its name to Lowe's in honor of the pitcher who won the clinching game in each of the team's three postseason series.
Throughout the parade, music blared from speakers on the lead vehicle, with selections including the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's "Messiah," and "Dirty Water" -- the Boston-themed Standells hit that is played after every victory at Fenway Park.
The players were awed by the outpouring of pent-up emotion from generations of fans. It even dwarfed the party thrown this year for the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
"I couldn't believe how loud it was," backup catcher Doug Mirabelli said. "It's just something you never get tired of. I just wanted to keep going."
Arrests and injuries
Police said 10 people were arrested, 12 were taken to hospitals for treatment of minor injuries and 30 were treated on the street.
Pitcher Pedro Martinez was hit in the forehead by a baseball thrown from the banks of the Charles. He looked stunned and put his hand to his forehead as the ball floated down the river.
"I have a little headache, but I'm OK," said Martinez, who sat atop his boat, draping himself with the Dominican flag like a cape.
Right fielder Trot Nixon said the World Series victory was for those "who have lived and breathed with Red Sox baseball for years and years." Nixon said he heard heartfelt words from fans, like one who said his grandfather had died before seeing his beloved Sox win the big one.
"This is for all the little guys, from Maine to the West Coast," Nixon said. "All the fans are part of our family, the family of the Red Sox."
With people spread out throughout the city, police didn't immediately hazard a guess on the size of the crowd. Organizers had extended the parade route from the streets into the Charles River because of projections that as many as 5 million people would jam into the city.
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