Thousands of screaming Twins fans jammed downtown Minneapolis and St.
Paul Sunday night celebrating Minnesota's first World Series
championship.
They climbed light posts, traffic lights, bus shelters and
awnings. They climbed on buses and fire trucks and turned downtown into
a parking lot.
"We're all relieving years of being called losers. We're not
losers anymore," said John Traxler, 29, of St. Paul as he pushed
through the massed fans in downtown Minneapolis.
Police had warned they would strictly enforce the traffic and
open drinking laws, but they quickly were overwhelmed by jubilant fans.
They just tried to move people away from downtown - but the party was
still heating up at 1 a.m.
At 7th St. and 2nd Av. S., police watched the thinning ranks of
screaming fans with amusement. "The town is yours," one policeman said
with a grin. "Take it. Lock up when you're done."
As the police and Guardian Angels looked on, people danced in the
street, slapping hands with strangers in the buses and cars stuck in
traffic.
A bunch of young men climbed stoplights and street lights at 6th
St. and Hennepin Av. S. In separate tries, two MTC buses tried to move
through the crowd and got almost to 6th St. before they were stopped
for a time by fans climbing onto the outside and rocking it. One man
fell from the top of one bus but apparently was unhurt.
Others climbed the awnings of City Center and others were throwing
confetti from the top of the building.
Drummers and dancers snaked down 6th St. between Hennepin and
Nicollet for 10 minutes in a spontaneous parade wearing Homer Hankies
around their heads.
At 6th St. and Chicago Av. S., two men in gorilla outfits and Twins T-shirts danced. A woman led another decked out in a redbird
costume, with a sign reading: "Dead Bird."
"Cheer up!" Sgt. Dennis Haven said with a laugh as he slapped a
reveler on the back. "I wouldn't want to be driving through here," he
said. But he wasn't worried about the crowd getting out of control.
"They've really been nice."
The celebration erupted only moments after the final out.
Shouting "We're No. 1," people poured into the streets from bars and
thousands more flocked down from the Dome. At 6th and Hennepin,
several thousand fans clogged the street, blocking it.
One woman was injured, not seriously, near the corner of 7th and
Hennepin. Police said she was trampled by the crowd.
Immediately after the Twins victory there were few people on the
streets in downtown St. Paul. But within an hour there was a
bumper-to-bumper parade of cars honking horns and inching its way from
Kellogg Blvd. onto Wabasha St. and onto 7th St. Hundreds of people
gathered outside the Heartthrob Cafe.
One fan on a downtown Minneapolis light pole burned an effigy of a
cardinal as hundreds of fans cheered. Another fan carrying a trumpet
started playing "Hanky Panky" as hundreds sang along with him.
"This is great, I'm speechless," shouted Jim Sheeley, 24, of
Anoka. "I've been waiting for this for 23 years."
Police called radio stations to ask that people not come downtown,
but they didn't have much effect.
A fire truck inexplicably moved down Hennepin, and as it did,
fans piled onto it. By the time it reached 7th St. there may have been
75 people on top of it before police officers coaxed the fans off.
"I think it's awesome," said Lisa Balster, 23, Minneapolis, a
travel agent. "They've done it. They're the best."
twins/mlb
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