HOUSTON — One word — SUCCESS! That's how you can describe the 2022 Astros World Series Parade that happened Monday in downtown Houston.
The parade was thrown less than 48 hours after the Houston Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in six games of the World Series. The route stretched 1.7 miles of downtown Houston with every corner and block filled with a sea of blue and orange worn by Astros fans. In fact, the streets of Houston were filled with hundreds of thousands of fans hours before the parade kicked off.
No one was more excited than the players.
Before loading the buses to assume their position on the parade route, several of them spoke to members of the media about how excited they were to interact with the fans.
"I mean this is why we do it," Astros shortstop and World Series MVP Jeremy Peña said. "I hope the whole city is there. We're looking forward to it."
"Dream come true for every single person in here," third baseman Alex Bregman said. "You know, you work all year long, very hard to try and accomplish winning a championship and we did that. I'm so excited."
"I heard they shut universities, schools down today and everything like that," Trey Mancini said. "It shows how special it is to play here that everybody's going to come out and support us today."
And support they got. Those who were able to call off work didn't hesitate to fight with traffic to see the Astros and the Commissioner's Trophy float through downtown Houston. And with several Houston-area school districts canceling school to honor the Astros, that meant more people to the party.
The parade started with Texas Southern University's Ocean of Soul Band breaking it down with their bad selves! Behind them were Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee who waved at the crowd from military vehicles.
The 'Most Energetic Award' would have to go to Houston Astros mascot Orbit who was seen busting all the moves atop a van during the parade. Orbit is just as popular as the players in the City of Houston, especially with the young fans.
The world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales made an appearance along with several Houston celebrities like Bun B, Lil Flip, Slim Thug, Trae tha Truth and former Texan Andre Johnson.
And what's an Astros celebration without Hall Of Famers Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell who were seen riding in the parade on a Houston Fire Department vehicle?
The Houston Astros themselves closed out the parade. Astros outfielder Chas McCormick was seen holding up the 2017 World Series trophy on a float with Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Michael Brantley and Alex Cintrón.
In a float behind that group was Astros manager Dusty Baker holding the 2022 World Series trophy. He was surrounded by Justin Verlander, Alex Bregman, Houston Astros owner Jim Crane and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
There was nothing but smiles as the team interacted with their fans, even breaking out in a "We Want Houston" chant with the crowd.
You can watch our full coverage of the Astros World Series Parade on YouTube and KHOU 11+ on Roku and FireTV.