St. Paul Saints celebrate their championship with a parade — of sorts

The St. Paul Saints threw a championship victory parade in typical “Saints style” on Monday in front of CHS Field in St. Paul.

The parade celebrated the team's American Association Championship victory Saturday over the Sioux City Explorers. Saints manager George Tsamis carried the team's trophy down the street for three minutes in St. Paul’s Lowertown district. The players paraded down the street for all of one block, riding on a John Deere mower and swerving on a Lime scooter.

The parade was slated to run for about one minute, but went on a few minutes more. The fans didn't mind seem to mind cheering for the team a little longer.

Tsamis said he was surprised by the turnout at the micro-celebration.

“We didn't expect this. We expected a few people to show up. We come around the corner and the streets were packed,” he said.

Saints fan Sue Jordan said she wished the city would've thrown them an even bigger parade.

“It's very much in their style, but I'm very disappointed in the city of St. Paul for not stepping up and giving them a full victory parade, shutting down streets and giving them a ticker tape thing like they have everywhere else in the country,” Jordan said.

But Saints manager Tsamis said the one-block party was all the team needed. “This is so Saints to have a one-minute parade that probably lasted three minutes but it was outstanding,” he said.

The last time the Saints won the championship was 15 years ago.

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