Red Sox Parade 2018: Celebration Schedule, Route and Players to Watch

It's time for a parade again in Boston.

This time, it's the Boston Red Sox, who finished off the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games and earned their fourth World Series title since 2004.

The franchise that broke an 86-year World Series drought with a four-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004 has become quite adept at winning titles. In many ways, it is similar to the dominance the Red Sox demonstrated at the beginning of the 20th century when they won five titles between 1903 and 1918.

The city has seen all its sports teams win titles in the 21st century, and Boston has become the city of champions.

This could be a special year for the city's sports teams, as the New England Patriots are almost always in contention for a Super Bowl, the Boston Celtics may have the best chance of any NBA team of challenging the powerful Golden State Warriors and the Boston Bruins have a chance to play with the elite teams in the NHL and regain Stanley Cup glory.

But Wednesday belongs to the 2018 Red Sox, a team that won 108 regular-season games, beat the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series, took down the defending World Series titlist Houston Astros in the ALCS before dispatching the Dodgers in the Fall Classic.

The parade route is fairly familiar to Bostonians, with an alteration to the starting point. 

Appropriately, the parade will commence at Fenway Park, the green cathedral of baseball. The champions will proceed down Lansdowne Street, take a right on Ipswich Street and then a left on Boylston Street to Tremont Street at Boston Common, per Boston.com. The parade then makes its way to Cambridge Street and will finish at New Sudbury Street. The parade gets underway at 11 a.m. ET.

Red Sox fans are always emotional, and as the team established itself as the winningest in Red Sox history, comparisons with the greatest teams in baseball history have started.

Whether they belong in a conversation with teams like the 1927 Yankees, the '39 Yankees, the '61 Yankees, the '75 Reds and the '98 Yankees is up for debate, but the 2018 Red Sox will be treated like heroes to those along the parade route.

Fans are likely to show their appreciation for World Series heroes Steve Pearce, David Price and Nathan Eovaldi.

Pearce earned the World Series MVP award as he hammered three home runs in Games 4 and 5, while Price transformed from a career postseason question mark to a legitimate stud as he beat the Astros once and the Dodgers twice in his starts. He also took the ball in relief on a couple of occasions.

Eovaldi, who was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays during the summer, was remarkable during the postseason. He started two games for the Red Sox and pitched in four others in relief. He had a 1.61 earned-run average in 22.1 innings, striking out 16 hitters and walking just three while holding opposing batters to a .185 batting average.

Included in Eovaldi's effort was a 6.0-plus effort in the 18-inning third game. Eovaldi ultimately took the loss when he gave up a home run to Max Muncy, but he calmly handled the pressure of holding off the Dodgers for inning after inning.

Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez, the two biggest stars on the team throughout the season, will also get warm welcomes, and so should Jackie Bradley Jr., the ALCS MVP.

Boston left-hander Chris Sale, the ace of the pitching staff, rallied his team in Game 4 with a fiery speech in the dugout. It would not be a surprise if the emotional Sale did the same at the parade to pump up the fans in attendance.

The team that met and exceeded all expectations will get a lifetime's worth of memories as the city of Boston celebrates its latest champions.