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Boston Mayor Tom Menino plans his 8th and final rolling rally

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Tom Menino talked about planning his final rolling rally as the Mayor of Boston with the FOX 25 Morning News team Thursday.

The mayor said he planned to meet with Red Sox officials early in the day to finalize plans for the parade. While Sox owner John Henry and the Boston Duck Tours mentioned Saturday as the day of the event, an official announcement was planned for later in the morning.

Boston's longest serving mayor also shared high praise for the World Series champions.

"This is a very special team. One guy comes up today to be a star today and then some other guy the next day," said Menino, who also complimented the efforts of Sox brass and called manager John Farrell the unsung hero.

In the mayor's opinion, the work of World Series MVP David Ortiz could not be overshadowed by President Barack Obama's visit to the city to discuss the Affordable Care Act. When asked who was more impressive Wednesday, the mayor said Ortiz.

"Man, Big Papi. Big Papi is my man," replied the mayor. "You know, everybody looks at Big Papi as a ball player, I look at him as a person what he has done for me and the violence issue with the young people of our city. That's how I look at him. He's great on the field, you know, a hall-of-famer, but he's a hall-of-famer to me because he's out there making those public service announcements, out with the kids of our city. That's where you tell a real athlete, when he cares about going around in his neighborhood and he does."

Mayor Menino has been in office for all of the city's seven rolling rallies for four different Boston sports teams. The Sox rally will be his eighth and final one.