FREEPORT – Dan Perrello of Newcastle and Charles Tibbetts of Limerick were on opposite ends of the spectrum Saturday, in terms of wait time to see the Red Sox World Series trophies on display at L.L. Bean.

Perrello and his son, Joseph, got there at 2, and were at the front of the line when Red Sox officials brought the trophies – fresh from a stop at Hadlock Field in Portland – into the lobby. Tibbetts was at the rear, and if you take in travel time, he was making an investment of more than four hours to see the shiny tributes earned by the darlings of the New England sports world.

The waiting line stretched well behind the lobby – beyond the 1912 Cafe, around the corner, beyond the men’s jackets, through the Fishing and Hunting entrance, out the door, through the outside deck – and to Tibbetts.

“I don’t know if we’re going to get to the front by 5,” Tibbetts said at 3:30. “It’s a long line.”

Former Sen. George Mitchell, a director in the Red Sox organization, accompanied team brass and L.L. Bean officials Saturday for what was a busy eight days of touring the trophies. They were in southern California eight days prior, then jumped the pond to Japan, returned to Fenway Park on Thursday, then arrived in Maine.

Mitchell noted the long association between New England’s team and Maine.

“Maine has a long and great connection with the Red Sox,” he said. “We don’t have stronger or better fans anywhere than here in the great state of Maine.”

Waiting in line with several hundred other people, Tibbetts said he credited Manager John Farrell with the turnaround that transformed the Red Sox from cellar-dwellers to bearded wonders, who confounded everyone to win their third World Series in a decade.

“They traded to get a lot of good leaders,” Tibbetts said. “Nobody expected this.”

Ellen Augusta, a member of the L.L. Bean events team, encouraged people on the deck, telling them that Red Sox mascot Wally the Green Monster, as well as the Bean mascot, L.L. Bear, would come out to greet kids – young and old.

“The line is moving,” Augusta said. “Wally’s here. L.L. Bear is here.”

Perrello has been a Sox fan for 43 years – since he moved to Maine from Brooklyn. Perrello said that, as great as the 2004 miracle comeback over the New York Yankees was, which led to that first championship that year, this last one was extra special. Few fans will soon forget the iconic Sports Illustrated “Boston Strong” photo of Jonny Gomes with his arms raised, the day after the Boston Marathon terrorist attack.

“This one to me was the most special,” Perrello said. “I didn’t expect it.”

Asked to choose one player who sparked the effort, Perrello thought carefully and picked Shane Victorino. His son chose Gomes.

Mac McKeever, director of public relations at Bean, noted a long history between the company and the Red Sox.

“L.L. Bean and the Red Sox have a longstanding history,” McKeever said. “Our founder, Leon Leonwood Bean, was a huge Red Sox fan. He was a season ticket holder.”

Red Sox public address announcer Dick Levin, who was also at the event, waxed poetic.

“It’s three in 10 years, but it never gets old,” Levin said. “It’s the World Series trophy, and by God it’s ours. So now we can say how they got all the wins. They won by the hair of their chinny-chin-chins.”

Charles Steinberg, who works on special events for the Red Sox, acknowledged that the trophy was making a stop at L.L. Bean due to “the key role that L.L. Bean has in the community.” Steinberg was wearing two World Series rings. The third, he said, is still being made.

“Can we come back again?” Steinberg asked the crowd.

A man answered with the line of the day.

“Next year,” he shouted.

Former Sen. George Mitchell, a director for the Boston Red Sox, stands behind the three World Series trophies that brought out crowds Saturday at L.L. Bean. The trophies also made Maine stops in Portland and Bangor during the weekend. The 2004 trophy is on the left, the 2013 trophy in the center and the 2007 trophy at right. People in the big crowd that gathered at L.L. Bean were anxious to snap pictures, and maintain their places in line.  Charles Tibbetts of Limerick figured it would be at least two more hours before he got from the back to the front of the line to see the Boston Red Sox World Series trophies last Saturday at L.L. Bean.