Boston preparing for possible World Series celebration

Boston mayor Thomas Menino said the city will be prepared if David Ortiz and the Red Sox win the World Series tonight. (Michael Ivins/Getty Images)

With a win in Game 6 tonight, the Red Sox will claim their third World Series title in 10 years.

While a celebration in the city may be old hat — the Patriots (2005), Celtics (2008) and Bruins (2011) have also won titles during the Red Sox' recent run — city officials are taking extra precautions in light of the Boston Marathon bombings in April and President Obama's visit to discuss heath care reform only hours before the game.

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Extra bomb-sniffing dogs will be deployed in the Fenway Park area, as well as undercover officers, said Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis.

"We've had a lot of great success. ... We've had some challenges and some tragedies," said Boston Police Superintendent-in-chief Daniel Linsky. "We're hoping that fans have grown and got accustomed to the championships, and we're hoping that they realize that there's no reason to destroy property to celebrate a sports victory."

Following the Red Sox' win over the Yankess in the 2004 American League Championship Series, a 21-year-old college student was killed by a pepper pellet fired by a Boston police officer in a crowd-control effort. But that is one of the few issues the city said it has had during postgame celebrations.

Tonight (and for a potential Game 7 tomorrow), police will limit crowds near the ballpark, Linsky said. After the seventh inning, people won't be allowed into Fenway or the surrounding streets, and if people already there decide to leave, they won't be permitted to come back.

"Instead of having a crowd of 800,000 in one area, we've got eight smaller crowds of 50,000 or so in different areas, and we're able to manage this better," Linsky said.