SAN JOSE — For 10 improvised minutes, San Jose finally saw a triumphant procession to celebrate its place atop the competitive-eating hierarchy.

You could call it a parade, but lawyers for the Kevin Klein Live morning radio show staff purportedly frowned upon that term, or any other term — rally, hootenanny, flash mob — that suggested host station Live 105 was sanctioning the kind of gathering that typically needs permits, permission, and other technical things like that.

Regardless, native son Matt Stonie, the reigning hot-dog-eating champ and top-ranked gastronome in Major League Eating, was hailed Friday afternoon by upward of 100 fans who followed him Pied Piper-style down San Pedro Street in downtown as onlookers either pulled out their cell phones to photograph the march, or looked on with quizzical stares.

“This is a lot of people,” Stonie said. “It’s humbling.”

This week, the 23-year-old Evergreen Valley High School graduate rose to the No. 1 ranking in MLE, a status that Joey Chestnut, who also calls San Jose home, had held for most of the past decade.

The ranking was updated following his stunning upset of Chestnut on July 4 at competitive eating’s Super Bowl, the Nathan’s Famous hot-dog eating contest in Coney Island, New York. Stonie, nicknamed “The Megatoad,” devoured 62 dogs to Chestnut’s 60.

Accordingly, Stonie brought along his boxing-inspired mustard-yellow title belt, marking nine straight years it has belonged to San Jose. Supporters came from far reaches of the Bay Area to get packages of hot dogs signed — Nathan’s Famous, naturally — along with photos and whatever else could be scrawled on with a marker.

Among them were Antioch resident Katie Patrock and her three children, some donning princess costumes. She was among those who brought franks for autographing.

“It’s a field trip with the kids, and we get to be in a parade,” Patrock said, her characterization not cleared with the station’s attorneys.

To be clear, a plurality of fans were there to back Klein’s nascent Bay Area radio show, making it clearly one part celebration and one part — arguably a more-than-slightly-larger part — promotion. But it was still the first public instance of celebrating one of San Jose’s eating heroes, as Chestnut was never feted like this during his ongoing legendary career.

The guerrilla nature of the event was evident from the start, because while radio staffers donned hot-dog and condiment costumes, others showed up in whatever they could conjure on short notice — Stonie himself only learned of the parade, er, celebration three days ago — which meant sights like a unicorn, an Abraham Lincoln impersonator carrying an actual ax, members of the St. Ignatius High School (San Francisco) marching band, a local dance troupe, and a giant plush hot dog on a cart that toted around a dog sitting inside.

With temperatures in the 80s, they marched around the block before ending at a rally, um, gathering at Da Kine Island Grill, where Klein took the microphone.

“San Francisco had a parade for the Giants. Oakland had a parade for the Warriors,” he said. “This is our warrior, from San Jose!”

Stonie, mild-mannered when he’s away from the dinner table, was nothing but gracious.

“I didn’t expect this many people to show up for this, this is incredible,” he said. “Just your guys’ support and everything, it really helps out.”

Contact Robert Salonga at 408-920-5002. Follow him at Twitter.com/robertsalonga.