A pinstriped party was thrown for the champion New York Yankees today, with a flood of fans from Little Leaguers to Wall Streeters filling lower Manhattan's "Canyon of Heroes" to celebrate the team's first title in 18 years.
Tens of thousands of early arrivals packed the parade route where New Yorkers have honored heroes from Charles Lindbergh to Gulf War veterans. Subways downtown were jammed with revelers in Yankee gear. A Santa Claus in a Yankee batting helmet waved a sign proclaiming, "Christmas in October!"Pleasant autumn weather greeted a throng that Mayor Rudolph Giuliani boasted would exceed three million along the canyon's narrow streets, office windows and City Hall Park. Those at City Hall watched a replay of the Yankees' Game 6 victory on a giant television screen.
Earlier in the day, Yankee manager Joe Torre rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange and was swallowed up in an autograph-signing frenzy on the trading floor.
Torre appeared on a balcony with NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso to ring the bell for the 9:30 a.m. EST start of trading. He then waved and gave the thumbs-up sign amid cheers and a flurry of baseballs and caps tossed from the floor.
"The harder you work, the luckier you get," Torre said. ". . . As far as I'm concerned, I'm the luckiest guy in the world."
Unlike 1978, when shortstop Bucky Dent was the hero of the Yankees' last World Series triumph, the spotlight this time may fall on the team's relief pitchers, riding a vintage fire truck less than a mile up Broadway from Battery Park to City Hall.