SAN FRANCISCO -- The city had largely regained equilibrium by its morning commute Thursday, after going completely bonkers on Wednesday night.
San Francisco's beloved Giants won the World Series in a nail-biter of a Game 7, its third win in five years. At Civic Center plaza this morning, scene of the official watch party, remnants of the night's revelry remained.
Crews were breaking down the giant projection screen and fans hustling to work were lingering to snap images of the giant victory banners that had been unfurled on City Hall overnight.
#SF city hall largely back to normal. Oh, except for the giant #WorldSeries champs banners #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/xHsNlkzxgV— Kate Sommers-Dawes (@ekatesd) October 30, 2014
Giants wins do make pretty papers pic.twitter.com/TYNiTiz2Nv— Karissa Bell (@karissabe) October 30, 2014
The smell of stale booze still wafted through the air and a few glass shards littered the ground. Here were reminders of the night when the city went off its rocker, from Bayview to the Haight.
As happened the last time the Giants won the Series in 2012, thousands of fans poured into Civic Center plaza. They cheered despite the team's crushing loss to the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night in Game 6.
When the G-men won, on a pop-up foul caught by third-baseman Pablo Sandoval in the bottom of the ninth, pandemonium ensued. (Not pictured in the video below: the camerawoman being doused with champagne.)
Scene at #SF City Hall as Madison Bumgarner throws final pitch, #SFGiants win #WorldSeries http://t.co/TicJsLBrEF— Kate Sommers-Dawes (@ekatesd) October 30, 2014
There were celebratory fireworks (the official kind).
A New Orleans jazz band funked it up.
Jazz band celebrates #SFGiants #WorldSeries win at Civic Center https://t.co/Xp6baw9pRd— Kate Sommers-Dawes (@ekatesd) October 30, 2014
To the northwest, in the Lower Haight neighborhood, police had blocked off an entire street of bars, where crowds gathered to celebrate, hang from rooftops, spray champagne and shoot off copious amounts of fireworks (the illegal kind).
One fan had slightly altered the standard "Let's Go Giants" chant to "Let's Go Riot." But he was joined by no one else in the crowd, which was generally celebratory rather than violent.
Even Hunter Pence, hero of the outfield and maker of outlandish faces, was there (sort of).
City police, when asked whether they thought they'd have to break up the raucous party, were attentive but nonplussed. "This is happening all over the city," they said, indicating that the Haight crowd would likely disperse on its own.
Down in the Mission, to the southwest, the scene got more real, with debris and couches being lit on fire amid another giant street party.
My fav #SFGiants video fm last night. Journey singalong's great. But mind-losing when MacDre comes on @ 2:10 is BEST https://t.co/TDRLRbsnqU— Sam Laird (@samcmlaird) October 30, 2014
champions, no time for losers tho https://t.co/VF29qH7JQh— Sam Laird (@samcmlaird) October 30, 2014
By 11 p.m., the revelry had taken a rowdier, more violent turn in various neighborhoods. Police were injured when bottles were thrown at them, and at least three people were injured in a shooting and stabbing. Forty people were arrested, mainly for drinking in public, and there were no reports of deaths.
Thursday morning, while clean-up crews continued to battle the aftermath and bleary-eyed commuters got back to work, the city appeared almost back to normal.
At least until Friday's World Series victory parade, that is -- which happens to coincide with one of the most raucous nights in the city by the Bay, Halloween.