Astros Parade 2017: Route, Live Stream and Expectations

In a World Series filled with seemingly endless drama, the Houston Astros needed relatively little of it to win Wednesday's Game 7 at Dodger Stadium over the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1.

George Springer secured his Fall Classic MVP with a leadoff double, the first run and a two-run home run, marking the fourth straight World Series contest he drilled a long ball. The pitching did the heavy lifting from there, as Lance McCullers Jr., Brad Peacock, Francisco Liriano, Chris Devenski and Charlie Morton allowed a mere one run as a collective while finishing the series.

Now comes the celebration.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced the parade for the Astros' first World Series title in franchise history will be Friday at 2 p.m. local time.

ABC 13 in Houston noted the parade route will be shut down by 1 p.m. "The celebration will begin on Smith at Lamar, proceeding north on Smith, east on Walker, south on Milam, west on Pease, north on Smith and ending at Lamar Street," ABC 13 reported.

Based on past parade coverage, expect it to be televised by MLB Network and live-streamed by MLB.com.

Considering this is the Astros' first-ever championship and the first major professional sports title for the city since the Houston Rockets won the Larry O'Brien Trophy in 1995, expect hundreds of thousands of locals to turn out in force for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

There will surely be player speeches from the young core of Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve and Springer—especially after the latter captured the World Series MVP trophy for his dominant performance.

However, don't be surprised if ace pitcher Justin Verlander misses the festivities, as Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports pointed out:

ABC 13 in Houston gave a glimpse of the type of celebratory mood to expect when capturing some of Wednesday's party at Minute Maid Park after the Astros won in Los Angeles:

On a more serious note, Houston is a city that could use a celebration.

While sports are trivial compared to real-life tragedies, they also have the power to bring communities together. After Houston suffered through Hurricane Harvey, look for this parade to provide an outlet for families, friends and strangers to celebrate the resiliency of their city and the Houston Strong attitude.

"It's a true privilege to proudly host this magnificent salute to our hometown team that has earned history," Mayor Turner said, per ABC 13. "As we bounce back from Hurricane Harvey, we are more than ready to welcome our heroes home in proper form."

The expectation here is hundreds of thousands will come out and show the rest of the country just how strong Houston is as it celebrates something that has never been done before: the Astros winning the World Series.