Baseball fans get a glimpse of their favorite players at All-Star parade
Luis Gonzalez led the parade that ran along a red carpet along Jefferson Street.
Photographer: ABC15
Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 07/12/2011
PHOENIX - It may have been hot and humid today but baseball fans showed up by the thousands in downtown Phoenix to welcome players to the 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star game.
Fans lined both sides of a red carpet spread down Jefferson Street to cheer their favorites.
Andrea Dwyer, a Boston Red Sox fan, was in town from Rhode Island, taking vacation time to enjoy the All-Star festivities. She proudly pointed out several more Red Sox fans across the street.
Led by fan favorite Luis Gonzalez, the parade started at noon, running from 1st to 3rd streets. Team mascots kept the crowd of several thousand entertained and supplied with necklaces, Hackey Sacks, and other trinkets.
Ron Long made the trip from Anthem, parking at Christown Spectrum Mall and taking the light rail downtown.
“I’ve got a few hours to kill so decided to come down here to watch it … I never miss a parade or fireworks,” Long said.
Lisa Maher of Queen Creek, with her daughters Madeline and Nora, picked a spot around 11 a.m. They were waiting to see their favorite Giants players, Brian Wilson and Tim Lincecum.
Darrel Christensen told ABC15 he was there to see “Anybody and everybody. We’re just baseball fans.” Darrel explained he’s been to 10 World Series Games, 49 Major League baseball parks, but this is his first All-Star Game.
The heat was showing on the faces of the fans. Most had water and some had fans or used newspapers to cool off. One little girl had a rough go of it, though. Fire department paramedics said a girl about 4 years old passed out and was taken inside a nearby building to cool off. They said she didn’t need a trip to the hospital, that her parents had just taken her home.
In spite of the noontime heat, fans stuck around until well after 1 p.m. to cheer the last few players to ride by. Santa Claus with beach gear was the last one
Judy Shannon from Seattle said, "Everybody we're meeting is friendly, everybody is here for baseball.
Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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