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World Series Champ Daniel Nava Meets Fans, Looks Forward To Duck Boat Parade

MEDFORD (CBS) - Fans lined up for hours to see one of their beloved champs, Daniel Nava signing autographs at Modell's in Medford.

Scotty Montefusco of Revere chose to come see Nava with his father rather than go trick or treating with his friends. Scotty says, "He's my favorite player."

Rebecca Roy drove down from Hooksett, New Hampshire because she wanted to say thank you. "We went through so much adversity this year, and the drive and the determination and they never gave up."

Read: Duck Boat Parade Details

Nava says it's unreal. "It hasn't sunk in yet," he explains. He says he remembers looking up and seeing all of the cameras flashing around Fenway last night in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings, and says he will never forget the celebration.

One of the most special moments was sharing it with his wife and baby. He says he is grateful for the Red Sox for taking a chance on him. "They went out on a limb on a guy that was a one dollar sign and they didn't have to do that."

Nava says when he first came to Boston, he didn't know what a duck boat parade was. Then he learned, and the team set it as a goal for the season. "Guys were talking about a duck boat and how it goes through the city. That was all we wanted, a chance to be in the parade and we will do that."

He says the team felt a strong connection to the city, especially after visiting marathon bombing survivors at Spaulding.

"Boston strong is really something we tried to take as an inspiration to us."

He says they dedicated the rest of the season to do everything they could and to play as hard as they could to bring a title back to the city.

Nava says this was a special, selfless team.

"Our heart and soul obviously revolves around David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia. You have the big name in David Ortiz and the guy that goes out every day and plays with broken fingers and what not. We were able to rally around those guys."

He credits the front office for doing a great job bringing in quality guys who are talented players.

"It's the corniest thing, but we just wanted to win. And I think a lot of the guys wanted to turn the page from last year and get to this year. We took pride that anyone from the top of the lineup to the bottom could hurt you, could come in and be clutch. That's something that was good. You want a balanced team, a balanced attack. And out pitching turned things around big time."

He says the beard is going to stick around for a while - definitely through the parade. "Everybody better keep it for Saturday," he says. "You can't go on a duck boat without a beard."

He looks forward to saying thank you to the fans on Saturday, saying "This win was definitely for the fans."

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