Victory parade will start at noon

PHILADELPHIA, it's time to party!

But keep it clean folks, or your time at the Phillies' World Series victory parade could be cut short.

"You can be joyous, you cannot be a jackass," Mayor Nutter said yesterday, noting that a small number of people went too far Wednesday night, smashing bottles, looting a store, turning over cars and setting fires. "That kind of idiotic, destructive behavior will not be accepted in the city of Philadelphia," Nutter said.

Today's parade is the first to celebrate a Philly sports championship in 25 years - the last was for the 76ers in 1983. It will start at noon at 20th and Market streets. From there it will continue east on Market to City Hall and then south on Broad Street to Citizens Bank Park, concluding with rallies at the ballpark and at nearby Lincoln Financial Field.

"We can't wait, of course, to share this wonderful celebration," Nutter said. "The fans have stood by this team and our great city for many, many years and certainly are deserving of this championship and certainly the celebration to follow."

Officials said as many as a million people could attend. Free tickets to attend festivies at the ballpark and the Linc - which hold a combined 100,000 people - were snapped up in under two hours online yesterday.

The Live 8 Concert in 2005 on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway drew crowds estimated between 600,000 and 800,000. More than an estimated million gathered on the Parkway to hear Pope John Paul II say Mass in 1979.

Expecting huge crowds, the city urged people to leave cars at home and take public transit today, but stressed that the system will be strained.

"The capacity of the system could very well be overwhelmed at peak periods," said Rina Cutler, deputy mayor for transportation. "Patience is going to be critical and, quite frankly, so is common sense."

Officials said SEPTA's Broad Street and Market Frankford lines will be operating at peak capacity throughout the day.

Regional Rail will be running regular service. SEPTA will also provide free shuttle buses from Pattison Avenue to 2nd and Market Streets at the end of the parade.

Cutler said fans should not follow the parade to South Philly, because the events at the stadiums are restricted to those with tickets.

While the main event will be in the ballpark, officials said the players will briefly appear at the Linc.

Victory doesn't come cheap.

Nutter said the city was seeking corporate sponsors to defray parade costs, such as police overtime.

The long list of supporters includes Comcast, Independence Blue Cross, Toyota, Philadelphia Media Holdings (publisher of the Daily News and Inquirer) and Tastykake.

Nutter did not put a price tag on the parade.

He could not say exactly how much the sponsors had pledged, but said it was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said there would be a strong police presence today.

He said police are extending shifts and canceling some days off to make sure they have enough officers in the street.

Ramsey said 76 people were arrested Wednesday night for mayhem during the post-Phillies celebration. *