Live Blog of the San Francisco Giants' Victory Parade

5:50 p.m. Our photos of the Giants parade and celebration are up. Check them out.

4:39 p.m. The parade has come and gone and I've made my way back to the newsroom.  Stay tuned for a gallery of images from today's parade -- they'll be up shortly.

On the way back, I noted three people in Buster Posey jerseys. I think the franchise might just have a new face.

Speaking of Posey, I was surprised at what a natural public speaker he is -- is there anything this guy can't do?

As a Giants fan, I feel extremely lucky to have been able to cover today's event. I don't know that I'll ever forget the enormity of the crowd or the sweet sound of Jon Miller's voice. Or Aubrey Huff pulling a rally-thong from his pants (it's always the quiet ones).

I'm looking forward to getting home and calling my mom to talk about what we saw -- she was one of the fans who lined up along the route at 7 a.m. And as Larry Baer, Brian Sabean, and so many other folks mentioned today -- I'm grateful that she introduced me to this crazy, wonderful sport in this crazy, wonderful city.

See you next spring.

2:25 p.m. Fans are standing, a bit in awe, not quite sure what to do next. As Jon Miller said, "See you at the yard."

2:14 p.m. "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" is playing, the cue that the ceremony is over. But the crowd does not seem to be leaving, or maybe they can't.

2:11 p.m. Jon Miller closes by leading the crowd to chant, "Let's go Giants!"

Streamers pour down from the top of city hall. Torres pipes in to wish his wife a happy birthday. Miller quips that this was her birthday party, and he can't wait to go to next year's party.

2:07 p.m. Now it's the batters' turn. Buster Posey speaks first, didn't expect that. Freddie Sanchez thanks God in his speech, first player to do so. He gets an "aww" from the audience.

2:03 p.m. Cain, Wilson, and Lincecum go up to the podium. Everything gets loud.

Wilson thanks the mayor, and says that he's not up for the job, but he knows a man who is: "Where's the Machine?" The camera pans to Lincecum. Classic.

Lincecum's speech is short and sweet.

The crowd becomes silent in reverence for the pitchers. Cain speaks last -- neither he nor Zito has cut their hair. Maybe a trip to the barber's shop will be their first post-season team outing.

1:59 p.m. Spanish-speaking players take the stage. Torres addresses the crowd in English and Spanish. I wonder if Uribe ever gets sick of his cheer. He must not, because he just egged it on. Renteria and Uribe thank the fans in Spanish.

1:59 p.m. Sabean thanks fans for the support, says that their presence was felt and that the trophy belongs to them.

1:49 p.m. People are setting off fireworks in the street.

Sabean gets much love from the fans -- oh how quickly we forget. He simply says "We deserve this."

Overheard in the crowd: "This is probably the closest thing to a Beatles concert that I'll experience."

1:48 p.m. People are scaling Bill Graham Civic Auditorium trying to get a view. Others are sitting in trees.

Larry Baer is referencing the old days: Marichal, Cepeda, and Candlestick Park.

1:46 p.m. Just ran into some of the grounds crew. They walked in the parade and are sitting in the VIP area.

1:43 p.m. Neukom says it's "a great day to be a Giants fan." I would say it's a great month.

1:38 p.m. Newsom is loving this. He opens with "the torture is over." He presents the key to Neukom. The crowd applauds. I have to admit, that key is a lot smaller than I was expecting ... maybe 10 inches big. Newsom declares a city-wide Giants day and closes with a "fear the beard" and Wilson stands up.

Note from the newsroom:
At the Giants' ceremony just now, Gavin Newsom just said something like, "The city's going to need a new mayor soon, and I only have one thing to say, 'Fear the beard.'"

KQED's Scott Shafer has interpreted the comment as a shot at former San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, a frequent Newsom antagonist (and vice-versa). Newsom's office however, disagrees with our perhaps Freudian analysis. Read their response.

1:34 p.m. A group just started their own champagne pour. That's going to make for a sticky ride home.

1:33 p.m. The crowd seems pretty uninterested in Beach Blanket Babylon.

1:30 Barry Zito went up, no shades, and the announcers remind the crowd of his regular season contributions. Then Lincecum steps up and folks go wild.

1:29 p.m. Torres is the only player not in the shirt, he's rocking a leather jacket.

1:28 p.m. Everyone is looking smart in dark sunglasses. Even Bumgarner looks cool. They've moved onto the pitchers.

Jon Miller's voice was made for this. Sabean looks proud of his boys.

1:26 p.m. All the players are wearing the same t-shirt, even Wilson. And yes, he still has the beard.

1:19 p.m.As the ceremony begins the crowd goes wild when they see pitcher Tim Lincecum. Larry Baer and the owners also get a huge cheer. Peter Magowan is here and clubhouse manager Mike Murphy is a crowd favorite, so is Tito Fuentes. But the biggest shouts have been reserved for Kruk and Kuip. And it sounds like TNT went off for Willie Mays.

Renel Brooks-Moon says: "Let's get this party started." I think it already has. Jon Miller takes the mic and says: "This is what it must be like to be the pope" and comments on the size of the crowd.

The team is introduced, first the coaches.

Cheers of "Posey, Posey, Posey" go out as he is introduced.

1:16 p.m. Our reporter, Amanda Stupi, left to try to find a better wireless connection, and became enmeshed in the riled-up and loud crowd trying to push through. From the phone:

When the barricades on the south side of City Hall were breached huge crowds ran across the lawn and it looked like mayhem embodied.

Cops blocked them off before they got to the VIP area. Perhaps this is the parade equivalent of the seventh inning streaker?

"Don't Stop Believing" by Journey came over the speakers, and the crowd gets reenergized. Rally rags are on people's heads to protect them from the sun.

12:28p.m. Overheard in the crowd: "This is crazy," and "This is too much for me."

12:26 p.m. Fans at City Hall cheer when a player gets shown on screen. No offense to Rob Schneider, but the crowd seems pretty uninterested in his commentary.

12:24 p.m. More on hats: very few Panda hats in the crowd. Headpiece of choice is overwhelmingly the traditional black ball cap with an orange SF. Perhaps it's the heat, but there are a lot less beards being donned today.

12:12 p.m. Crowd chanting "Let's Go Giants." Babies are on shoulders, people are standing on top of signs and clinging to stoplight poles, anything to gain a vantage point, and there's not even anyone on stage yet. F.P. Santangelo got a cheer from the crowd when he appeared on screen.

12:09 Some folks just got let into the VIP area wearing the same type of name-tag that the employees at the ballpark wear -- wonder if they invited all the employees-- wouldn't that be a perk? But I think there would be more of them here by now.

11:44 Overheard in the crowd: complaints about waiting 40 minutes to buy a Giants hat. Who says bandwagon fans aren't dedicated?

11:33 KQED reporter Tara Siler says she found several families who camped out last night to reserve their spots -- little did they know that they were lining up behind the media platform. Suddenly that, "Move That Tripod" chant makes more sense.

10:32 a.m. Signs of the times: This crowd is professing its love in many ways: chanting Uuuu-Reebbayyy, wearing orange and black, and waving signs. So far I've seen one proposal to Tim Lincecum, three "Thank You Giants," and one sign that perhaps captures the mood best: "I Want To Rage Right Now."

10:31 a.m. More on the schwag --forgot to mention there are balloons floating around that say "Presented in Dolby Digital." Believe they're referring to the large screens on either side of city hall -- they're broadcasting player and coach interviews now and one can only assume they will broadcast the parade when it starts.

10:18 a.m. Let's talk schwag. A few folks in official-looking black t-shirts busted out boxes of rally rags (no cursed pompoms here). When the guys handing out the towels moved from the crowd to the press area, the crowd revolted, chanting "We Want Towels, We Want Towels..." Makes me scared of what they're going to yell at Barry Zito.

10:06 a.m.

If you're planning on watching the Giants' victory parade, you better get here fast. Civic Center plaza is already barricade-to-barricade with people.  I heard from folks at Montgomery and California that a crowd formed as early as 7 a.m.

For those of you who can't get out of work (or perhaps are simply averse to crowds), we'll be live blogging the parade. We'll send you photos, observations, and we'll even tell you what Brian Wilson is wearing.

The parade route from downtown's financial district to the Civic Center will follow the same one taken by the Giants when they first came to San Francisco from New York in 1958.

Mayor Gavin Newsom (and common sense) is encouraging people to take public transit. The Bay Area Rapid Transit system is planning to run longer trains on all lines and is urging riders to buy roundtrip tickets to avoid lines.

Golden Gate Ferry is planning to use extra ferries capable of carrying 715 passengers to shuttle fans from Marin County into the city.

View a map of the route at sf311.org.

NBC Bay Area has a guide for navigating the parade, which has some useful public transit links and tells you what Muni lines and BART stations will drop you along the parade route.