Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from Herald columnist Steve Buckley’s forthcoming book, “Wicked Good Year - How the Red Sox [team stats] Patriots [team stats] and Celtics [team stats] Turned the Hub of the Universe into the Capital of Sports.” The book will be released Tuesday by It Books/HarperCollins Publishers and will be available at bookstores and at Amazon.com.

Used to be it wasn’t a parade in this town if it didn’t include a collection of politicians -- various Kennedys and Curleys, Fitzgeralds and Flynns -- cheerfully waving to the crowd as the procession made its way through town.