As any St. Louis fan knows, beer and baseball belong together, even during championship parades. But beer offered from adoring fans turning into an assault charge? That's a new one. At the Boston Red Sox championship parade Wednesday, fans began launching full beer cans at team members as they rode duck boats, supposedly to share the good times with players. The only problem? Those fans don't exactly have major league-level aim. Red Sox manager Alex Cora took a beer can off the side of his head, and other beer cans fired from the crowd drilled a couple of the delicate flags that adorn the World Series trophy, leaving the hardware looking like a veteran hockey player coming off the ice.<doc-sep>The Boston Red Sox's championship parade gets briefly interrupted by an incoming beer can that nails the World Series trophy. (0:18) Boston police have arrested a man accused of hitting someone with a can of beer thrown during the parade celebrating the World Series-winning Red Sox. Police said 19-year-old Patrick Connolly, of Sandwich, Massachusetts, was charged with disorderly conduct and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Police said the can struck but didn't injure an unidentified man aboard one of the amphibious duck boats carrying players and their families in Wednesday's parade. It wasn't immediately clear if the beer can Connolly allegedly threw was the same can that hit and damaged a World Series trophy or if the man it hit was a ballplayer. During the New England Patriots championship parade in Boston in 2017, some players -- including tight end Rob Gronkowski -- caught beers thrown by fans and drank them. But a number of Red Sox players did not seem happy about Wednesday's beer tossing. Photos and video on social media showed one beer can hitting manager Alex Cora and two others almost hitting MVP candidate Mookie Betts. Neither was seriously injured, and it didn't take any varnish off the shining celebration. Connolly told the arresting officers, according to the Boston Globe: "I love Cora. I didn't mean to hit him.'' Here's Globe photog Stan Grossfeld saving Mookie from flying beer. Fan interference prevents Betts from making another catch pic.twitter.com/1BBn6G8SCJ — Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) October 31, 2018 Betts caught several cans and swatted away several others. "This definitely has got to stop," the outfielder told the Globe. Betts' family, including his mother, was on the duck boat. Pitchers Eduardo Rodriguez, Matt Barnes and Craig Kimbrel and infielders Eduardo Nunez and Xander Bogaerts were among players who also snared beers thrown their way, and David Price caught a nip-sized bottle. Police commissioner William Gross said there were five other parade-related arrests, including a 17-year-old charged with illegal firearm and drug possession. The parade that began Wednesday at venerable Fenway Park wound its way through several major downtown streets lined by fans numbering in the hundreds of thousands, some of whom arrived before dawn to stake out the best vantage point and many clad in Red Sox jerseys, sweatshirts and caps. Bits of red, white and blue paper rained down on the crisp, autumn day as the crowd waited for a glimpse of the ballplayers passing in the city's emblematic amphibious duck boats. The players and members of their families waved down in response from the open-roofed vehicles, and some players autographed balls and tossed them into the jubilant throng. During a pre-parade ceremony at Fenway, Cora thanked fans for supporting the team during what he called a "historic season" in which the Sox won a team-record 108 games during the regular season before beating the New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers in the playoffs. "I've been saying since Day 1, this is crazy, this is madness," said Cora, adding that his players shared the same high expectations of Boston fans. "And that's why they are world champs," he said. Security was tight along the route, which took the team past the site of the deadly 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. Public drinking, in theory, was banned, but many fans still liberally swigged from small vials of liquor and cans of beer. Throughout the day, spontaneous anti-Yankees chants rang out, a nod to the long-running rivalry between the American League squads. Countless Boston-area youths skipped class to take in the parade. "I heard there were six people in my history class today. Everyone is here,'' said Max Colognesi, a 16-year-old from nearby Chestnut Hill who joined friends near the ballpark. "I have a lot of homework when I get back, but it's worth it.'' Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.<doc-sep>
Photo : Elise Amendola ( AP ) Victory parades are one of the few times when a person can get away with drinking in public without getting arrested or making their friends concerned. It’s helpful if you’re famous, too. As the Boston Red Sox made their way along the parade route today, overeager fans who were willing to share their beer cans did damage to players, the manager, and the trophy. Credit to Boston.com for a helpful roundup of some of those flying beers. Poor Mookie Betts just wanted one day off from having to catch objects : David Price was all over the place: Relievers Matt Barnes and Craig Kimbrel were much more adept fielders: For the first time in his life, Chris Sale had some fun. He caught a beer and mostly chugged it: Dustin Pedroia appreciated the offering thrown at him, until he realized it was warm. He didn’t want your damn nips, either. Things were so much better for him in 2013: Manager Alex Cora was the target of an open beer, courtesy of an underage dummy who was later arrested. How’s he supposed to drink it if you’ve already cracked it? Someone who wasn’t even on the duck boats got smacked with a can of suds, according to the Boston Globe. She might need sutures: Onlooker Niamh Delaney, 20, said she got pelted in the face with one such projectile, and onsite medics recommended she go to the hospital because she may need stitches. Delaney, who was standing right behind a barricade on Tremont Street, said she thinks someone from the other side was trying to throw the can at a passing duck boat. “It was coming at like 15 miles an hour, that thing nailed me,” she said, holding a tissue up to a gash on her nose. T he World Series trophy also took one to the flags. Via WCVB: The Red Sox needed better muscle on those duck boats—someone who would have caught, drunk, or at least blocked those beers. Should’ve called Gronk.