ST PAUL, Minn. — Getting a parade together isn't easy, most take several months to organize and plan.
But when the parade only lasts a minute, and only goes one block, apparently all it takes is a tweet.
"We talked about this idea of posting it on Twitter that we're going to have a one minute, one block parade and our GM said sure and it was a total joke," St. Paul Saints Media Relations Manager Sean Aronson explains.
The “joke” was tweeted out Sunday night after the St. Paul Saints won their first championship title in 15 years.
The tweet mentioned a “one block, one one-minute long parade Monday morning” to honor the team.
The tweet was meant as a joke, referencing the team’s status as a small independent baseball team.
“I mean, when major league teams win championships there are always these two to three-mile-long parades with hundreds of thousands of people. I thought it would be fun to tell people that we’re going to do the same thing for one block and one minute,” Aronson says.
Some people got the joke, seeing the humor in such a short parade, but others thought the team was serious.
“Either they missed the joke, or they thought it was funny enough that they wanted us to do it. So, I was like wow, now we’ve actually gotta do this,” Aronson laughs.
Aronson and a few co-workers started working on a plan.
They scraped together a few golf carts, trailers and flags, and invited a few players and coaches to join in.
“We didn’t know what to expect for fans, maybe a few dozen? We didn’t know who would show,” Aronson says.
But instead of a few dozen, the team was greeted by hundreds of fans who lined both sides of Broadway Street outside CHS Field.
“We really didn’t expect this many people,” team manager George Tsamis says.
“I mean, a lot of the players left and went home, but a few guys were still here, and I called them up and asked, can you show up for this parade for a few minutes? None of us knew what to expect.”
The players didn’t know what to expect either, many had never been to a Saints game until this year.
“It was so amazing to see all the fans and all of the support,” starting pitcher Eddie Medina says.
“Us guys are here to play and are focused on that, but the workers here are solely focused on the fans and they do an amazing job making them feel loved and appreciated.”
The Saint Paul Saints will also be recognized during Monday night’s Minnesota Twins game against the Chicago White Sox.
The Saints were also American Association Champions in 1993, 1995, 1996 and 2004.